SIGNATORIES

ALBANIA

Mine Ban Policy

Albania signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 8 September 1998, but it has not yet ratified. According to the Albanian Anti-mining Friends Committee, the Parliament has begun the ratification process. Albania took part in all the diplomatic meetings of the Ottawa Process, including as an observer in Brussels and during the Oslo negotiations. Albania voted in favor of the pro-ban UN General Assembly resolutions in 1996 and 1997. Though it appeared to be considering changes in its mine ban policy, it did not attend the treaty signing conference, perhaps at least in part due to the turmoil in the country.

At the Budapest regional conference on landmines in March 1998, an official from the Ministry of Defense stated, "Being in social chaos and having victims from mines, arms and UXOs, the signing of the Ottawa Treaty became important."⁽⁷⁰⁸⁾ In his statement to the conference, the Foreign Ministry official said, "Our objective is to walk on the path of the Ottawa Convention.... We believe that very soon we will be in a position to sign it.... Following last year's crisis in Albania, the situation with regard to antipersonnel mines has been very difficult. Since that time a significant number of landmines have fallen to private hands. The collection of these weapons is not a simple issue. The Albanian government is undertaking all the necessary efforts on both mine-collection and mine-awareness. Our NGOs are also doing their best in this area."⁽⁷⁰⁹⁾ Subsequently, representatives of the Canadian and Norwegian governments had high level meetings with Albanian authorities to further discuss the landmine issue and the Mine Ban Treaty. The Albanian Anti-mining Friends Committee continued to build public awareness of the issue and held at week-long series of events in 1998. On 31 August in a meeting with the Committee, Prime Minister Fatos Nano said, "Albania shall enter the Ottawa Process and shall fulfill all it's obligations."

The Minister of Defense has ordered the military forces not to use antipersonnel mines on Albanian territory. A Ministry of Defense official said, "Since the order was given, no antipersonnel landmines have been removed from the stocks. Even with the conflict in Kosovo and the grave situation at the moment, Albania will not use mines and will not mine any part of Albanian territory."⁽⁷¹⁰⁾

In general, the Albanian population supports a mine ban; the support can be seen in the participation by various NGOs such as Open Civil Society, Association for Reconciliation of Disputes, Movement for Disarmament, and the Human Rights Association, which were invited by the Albanian Antimining Friends Committee to join in the "Action against Landmines" week.

Production

Although it is not generally known, Albania was a producer of antipersonnel landmines from 1967-1990. Before 1967, some hand-made mines were produced by various military units in small quantities. But the technology for mass production was transferred to Albania in 1967 by the People's Republic of China, and two production facilities were built in that year. These facilities produced the POMZ-2 and the POMZ-6 fragmentation stake antipersonnel mines. Antitank mines have also been produced in Albania. The mine production was financed and supervised by the Ministry of Defense. The existence of mine producing factories and their accessories has been confirmed by various high-ranking military authorities.⁽⁷¹¹⁾

In 1990, by a government decision, the production of APMs was suspended, at least in part due to financial difficulties. Since then, there has been no production of antipersonnel or antitank mines.⁽⁷¹²⁾ Currently there is no research and development being carried out on any munitions and no production of anti-handling devices. The production of detonators and electro-detonators continues, along with the production of high quality explosive (tritol) in Elbasan (a new facility), but only for civilian purposes.

A study has been carried out regarding possible conversion of the two mine-producing factories into civilian production. But since funding is unavailable from either the Albanian government or from international sources, everything remains closed.⁽⁷¹³⁾

Transfer

Albania has never exported antipersonnel landmines. Because the mines were of old technology and not of export-quality production, there was no market for export.⁽⁷¹⁴⁾ British and American mines were transferred to Albania during the years 1945-1946. They were never used and the stocks were destroyed in 1950. Large numbers of mines were transferred from the Soviet Union from 1949-1960, and from China from 1960-1975. According to information from the Archives of the Albanian Army, Mine File 1945-1975, the Soviet Union delivered 120,000 PMD-6 box mines from 1953-1959 and 25,000 POMZ-2 stake mines in 1959. China delivered 30,000 POMZ-2M stake mines in 1968 and 150,000 PMN blast mines in 1969-70.

Stockpiling

As a result of the social upheaval in Albania, in March of 1997 people looted a large quantity of weapons, including mines from the military depots. The Ministry of Defense has estimated that one million mines (500,000 antitank and 500,000 antipersonnel) are being retained illegally by the population. There is no way to verify this figure.⁽⁷¹⁵⁾ The UNDP is supporting a program for disarmament which includes the collecting of mines, which will then be destroyed. The Albanian Anti-mining Friends Committee offered its contribution with its program "Person to person, house to house, meter to meter."

According to Albanian military sources, 2.2 million antipersonnel mines are in still in military depots, ready for destruction.

The Albanian Army has periodically undertaken operations for the destruction of mines, which were considered either old technology or in deteriorated condition. Since 1948, considerable quantities of mines including those of German, Italian, Yugoslavian, British, American and Russian production have been destroyed and replaced with Albanian production. For example the Russian TM-41 and TMDB mines, the German telerminen, and British and American mines and all their accessories were destroyed. Only some samples were kept for training. Between 1948-1990, between 500,000 to 600,000 AP mines were destroyed.⁽⁷¹⁶⁾ Destruction usually is carried out by dismantling the mines.

More recently, Minster of Defense Order, Nr. 224, dated 26 September 1993, required destruction of 57,000 mines by 25 March 1994. These included old German and Soviet mines; destruction by the Army took place at Korÿa, Vlora, Elbasan, Shkodÿr, and Pÿrmet.⁽⁷¹⁷⁾ Currently, the Engineering Directory of the Ministry of Defense is preparing a plan for the destruction of the stocks of mines which will be sent to the government for approval.⁽⁷¹⁸⁾ According to the specialists, the cost for destruction of antipersonnel mines is as follows: 1) the destruction of PMN by exploding costs 0.5 USD per mine (taking out the transport, destruction work, security measurements, etc.); 2) for other types of mines, 0.2-0.3 USD per mine; and 3) for POMZ-2 mines, machinery might be necessary to break apart the metal for melting it in a foundry.

Use

Mines were used in Albania during the First World War. More than 80 years later in Kavaja (central Albania) mines laid in 1916 by Austro-Hungarian troops are still removed from the ground and destroyed. During the Second World War in the Albanian war theater, mines with used by the Italian Army (1939-1943) and German Army (1943-1944). British and American mines were also deployed. The Albanian government used mines in 1949 in a conflict with Greece.⁽⁷¹⁹⁾ Throughout 1945-1990, the government planted mines at special sections of the border with Yugoslavia and Greece. At present these areas are completely cleared.⁽⁷²⁰⁾

A new landmine problem emerged in 1997 when the government gave the order to plant mines in order to protect the military depots from population attacks.⁽⁷²¹⁾ These mines have not been cleared.⁽⁷²²⁾ On 24 October 1998 during an international conference in Albania, the Prime Minister of Albania declared that there are still 215,000 landmines in the ground which pose a danger to civilians.⁽⁷²³⁾ This figure of 215,000 landmines laid in the ground during March-June 1997 has not been confirmed by the military or independent sources. The military believes that there are fewer deployed and only to protect military depots from further looting.

Landmine Problem

The current mine problem in Albania is a result of the estimated 215,000 mines planted in 1997, as well as the estimated one million in the hands of the population, without any control regarding their use or technical and physical state. The mines laid in 1997 cover an area of approximately 650 hectares. According to the Albanian Anti-mining Friends Committee, in 1997 the number of deaths and injures from weapons, mines and munitions increased by approximately 1,000 % from 1996. As a result of measures undertaken by the government and maximal concern of Albanian society, during 1998 there was a decrease of approximately 70% in the number of accidents from these weapons.⁽⁷²⁴⁾

A serious evaluation of the mine situation was carried out for a conference, "About Clearance of Explosives from Albanian Territory," held on 18 June 1998, by the Ministry of Defense. A Declaration by the Prime Minister on 24 October 1998 emphasized the need to clear the minefields and the Ministry of Defense gave instructions and rules for the protection of these dangerous areas.

Mine Action

In Albania between 1945-1965, approximately 500,000 antitank and antipersonnel mines were removed from the ground. Along Durrÿsi Bay alone, 200,000 antitank and 20,000 antipersonnel mines were cleared. Clearance is carried out by specialized units under the Ministry of Defense. In October 1998, NATO experts trained 13 Albanian engineers for clearance of infected areas by UXO.⁽⁷²⁵⁾ In order to prevent accidents from victims, Albanian authorities, in cooperation with partner countries have undertaken emergency measurements including: the establishment of a group of 25 officers and 300 civil workers for demining and maintenance; the continued collection of information (filming and pictures) about minefields and areas contaminated by UXOs; and 24-hour service (guards and patrols) to keep the situation under control.

For the mines laid during the period of chaos in 1997, there are records. But as a result of rapid deployment, the records are not complete and in some cases there are also mistakes. The Albanian government, in Instruction Nr. 693, dated 29 December 1997, directs that clearance should be made by deactivating the mines and that mines which cannot be removed, such as the PMN, should be detonated. The Albanian Minister of Defense, in Instruction Nr. 133, dated 12 March 1998, outlines a demining plan.⁽⁷²⁶⁾ The condition of demining equipment is very bad, dating from the 1940s and 50s, such as Russian-made VIN-205 mine detectors.

A delegation of Italian mine clearance experts (DIE) has been working in Albania since August 1997, joined by a Belgian team of two. The Italian government contributions have included planning, training and logistical support. They have trained 45 officers. Additionally, starting in October 1999 NATO will offer technical assistance (a training course).⁽⁷²⁷⁾

There is a pilot program in the district of Gramsh called "Disarmament for Development" to collect munitions that are in the hands of the population; it has been supported with US$535,000.

Mine Awareness

In Albania mined zones and dangerous areas from UXO are enclosed and posted with warning signs, and the population living around is informed about the danger. Minefields are protected by civil and military guards.⁽⁷²⁸⁾ There are currently no national programs for mine awareness. The Albanian Anti-mining Friends Committee is developing a project on mine awareness education at primary and secondary schools. In March, the ICRC started an assessment on mines and UXOs in order to establish a mine awareness program for 1999. Additionally, a publication on mines is prepared to be printed as a joint collaboration of Handicap International and the Albanian Anti-mining Friends Committee.

Landmine Casualties and Survivor Assistance

Prior to 1997, mines victims were rare--isolated cases of involving mines from World War II.⁽⁷²⁹⁾ Since 1997, the toll has increased greatly, but reliable information is not available. The following are typical events: on 15 September 1997 in Kraste Martanesh (district of Burrel), six persons were killed from a mine which was in a building; in October 1997, in the Commune of Yzberishit (district Tirana), three children between the ages of 9-10 were killed by a mine which was thrown in a field.⁽⁷³⁰⁾

Due to the lack of maps, lack of equipment and protective gear, very difficult field conditions, among other problems, during 1997-1998 military deminers have been killed and wounded. According to military sources, between 31 March 1997 and December 1998, 60 were killed and 114 wounded.

There is very limited capacity for treating and rehabilitating mine survivors. A governmental medical service network equipped for first aid and with old surgical facilities is responsible for the needs of the country. In Albania there are no therapy or rehabilitation centers. Prosthesis are made only at the Military Hospital. In 1998, a joint collaboration between the Military Hospital and the Swiss Red Cross began. Now the Swiss Red Cross provides the material for the production of artificial limbs. A foreign foundation makes wheel chairs for paraplegics, which only partially fills the needs of the country.

The possibilities for professional integration and engagement of victims at work are limited. There are no projects for financial or economic support for survivors. With the opening in Tirana of an office of Handicap International, an NGO providing assistance to mine victims, there are more possibilities for identification of and assistance for mine victims and for their reintegration in civil life.

CYPRUS

Mine Ban Policy

Cyprus signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 December 1997. At the signing ceremony in Ottawa, the head of the Cypriot delegation linked his government's signature of the treaty to its desire "to reduce tension and promote mutual confidence" on the divided and heavily mined island.⁽⁷³¹⁾ As of March 1999 Cyprus had not ratified the treaty, though its parliament was reported to be in the process of ratifying it.⁽⁷³²⁾ Some observers have suggested that due to security concerns, the government of Cyprus will hesitate to ratify the Mine Ban Treaty as long as Turkey refuses to sign the treaty.

Cyprus attended the early ban treaty preparatory meetings, but not endorse the pro-treaty Brussels Declaration in June 1997, and did not participate in the treaty negotiations in Oslo in September 1997. However, Cyprus voted in favor of United Nations General Assembly resolutions supporting an antipersonnel mine ban in 1996, 1997, and 1998.

Cyprus is a state party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons, but has not yet ratified the 1996 amended Protocol II on mines.

Production, Transfer, Stockpiling and Use

Cyprus has been identified by the U.S. State Department and U.S. Army as a former producer of antipersonnel landmines, though the Cypriot government has denied past production.⁽⁷³³⁾ It is not known to have ever exported mines. There is no detailed information Cypriot importation of AP mines. Cyprus currently possesses a stockpile of mines, but its size and composition is unknown.⁽⁷³⁴⁾

During the 1974 hostilities that resulted in the division of Cyprus, both Greek Cypriot and Turkish forces laid thousands of mines in and near the buffer zone or "Green Line" separating the Turkish-controlled area from the Greek Cypriot-controlled area.⁽⁷³⁵⁾

Eight types of blast and bounding fragmentation AP landmines are known to have been used in Cyprus, including: the Russian PMD-6 and PMD-7TS, the British Mark 2, and the U.S.-made M2, M2A3, M2A4, M14, and M16. Anti-tank mines used in Cyprus include the U.S.-made M6A2 and M15, the Russian YAM-5, the Danish M/52, the British Mark 7, and the Turkish 4SKG.⁽⁷³⁶⁾

Landmine Problem

The government of Cyprus estimated in 1995 that there were 16,942 mines in Cyprus, of which 7,976 were antipersonnel mines.⁽⁷³⁷⁾ According to United Nations sources, there are 38 known or suspected minefields inside the buffer zone, and an additional 73 known or suspected minefields within 400 meters of the buffer zone.⁽⁷³⁸⁾ The U.S. State Department estimates a total of 132 mined areas in Cyprus, covering approximately 1,350 square kilometers.⁽⁷³⁹⁾ Observers have expressed concern that the majority of these mines have reached the mid-point of their 50-year lifespan and will become increasingly unstable and sensitive to pressure as they age.⁽⁷⁴⁰⁾

All of the known minefields within the buffer zone have been marked with a blue sign identifying the minefield number and with the standard international minefield marker, a red triangle, inscribed with the word "MINE" in Greek, Turkish, and English. UN sources have expressed concern over the adequacy of these markings, however, given the tendency of landmines to shift outside marked areas as a result of rain, landslides, and earthquakes. Moreover, the exact parameters of minefields are not always known, and neither side has exhibited a standard pattern for laying minefields. Finally, there is concern that minefields near the buffer zone have been modified or added to without notice to the UN. In addition to minefields near the buffer zone, there remain booby-trapped buildings in urban areas, including several abandoned villages and the capital, Nicosia.⁽⁷⁴¹⁾

Landmine Casualties

Three members of the United Nations Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) have been killed by landmines since 1974.⁽⁷⁴²⁾ In 1998, two Argentine peacekeepers are reported to have narrowly avoided injury when their vehicle struck a landmine near the Turkish-controlled village of Lefka. An unknown number of civilians have been killed and injured by landmines since 1974. In 1997, a 37-year-old father of three was killed by a mine when he followed his dog into a minefield in a government-controlled area near the buffer zone.⁽⁷⁴³⁾

Mine Clearance

In 1990, a proposal was made to remove all of the minefields from the buffer zone, based on the opinion of UNFICYP that these minefields were of no military value. Agreement could not be reached on the proposal and the project was never implemented.⁽⁷⁴⁴⁾ Two years later, UNFICYP reportedly proposed that Canadian engineers engage in demining operations in the buffer zone, but this proposal was also rejected.⁽⁷⁴⁵⁾ Canada again offered demining assistance in 1998, in connection with its support for the mediation efforts of the UN Secretary General's resident representative on Cyprus, Dame Ann Hercus, and for UN resolutions calling for arms limitations on the island.⁽⁷⁴⁶⁾

Cypriot president Glafcos Clerides has called for demining and stockpile destruction on both sides as part of a comprehensive demilitarization of the island.⁽⁷⁴⁷⁾ Rauf Denktash, the Turkish Cypriot leader, has declared his willingness to permit demining in the buffer zone if the Cypriot government agrees to certain security measures, including withdrawal of soldiers from certain areas and leaving weapons unloaded.⁽⁷⁴⁸⁾ The two sides have failed to reach a consensus on these broader political and military concerns. As a result, the issue of demining the buffer zone also remains unresolved. Still outstanding is the question of who is responsible for clearance in the buffer zone and the north of the island, given that the treaty holds signatory states responsible for demining only "in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control."

CZECH REPUBLIC

Mine Ban Policy

The Czech Republic signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997, but has not yet ratified. It was an active participant in all the treaty preparatory meetings and the negotiations in Oslo, and endorsed the pro-treaty Brussels Declaration in June 1997. The Czech Republic voted in favor of the United Nations General Assembly resolutions supporting a ban on landmines in 1996, 1997, and 1998. An official from the Czech Republic's Ministry of Foreign Affairs attended the Regional Conference on Landmines in Budapest, Hungary on 26-28 March 1998, where he said that a draft ratification and draft implementation law would be submitted to the Parliament "as soon as possible for discussion and approval."⁽⁷⁴⁹⁾

The Czech Republic is a state party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons and ratified the amended Protocol II on 10 August 1998. The Czech Republic is not a member of the Conference on Disarmament (CD), but has expressed support for the CD as a forum for encouraging universal adherence to the Mine Ban Treaty.⁽⁷⁵⁰⁾

Production, Transfer, and Stockpiling

The former Czechoslovakia was a significant producer and exporter of arms, including antipersonnel mines. The Czech Republic inherited the AP mine production facilities when the country divided.⁽⁷⁵¹⁾ Czechoslovak state factories produced ten types of antipersonnel landmines: the PP-Mi-Ba, the PP-Mi-D, the PP-Mi-D II, the PP-Mi-Sb, the PP-Mi-Sr, the PP-Mi-Sr II, the PP-MI-St-46, the PP-Mi-Na, the PP-Mi-S1, and the PP-Mi-Sk.⁽⁷⁵²⁾ Czechoslovakian mines were widely exported and used in Afghanistan, Angola, Cambodia, the former East Germany, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Namibia, Nicaragua, Somalia, South Africa, and Zambia.⁽⁷⁵³⁾

According to the Czech government, production of antipersonnel mines was halted in 1990. The Czech Republic imposed a three year moratorium on AP mine exports in October 1994, and extended it indefinitely in November 1997.⁽⁷⁵⁴⁾

By December 1997, the Czech Republic had destroyed all 44,353 non-detectable antipersonnel mines in its stocks that did not comply with CCW Protocol II.⁽⁷⁵⁵⁾ On 23 May 1998, the Czech Minister of Defense approved a stockpile elimination plan calling for complete elimination by 30 June 2001. The remaining 330,000 AP mines will be destroyed by disassembling and recycling certain materials, such as scrap metal and TNT components. The Ministry of Defense plans to retain approximately 4,000 antipersonnel mines for training purposes.⁽⁷⁵⁶⁾

Landmine Problem

The Czech Republic government reported in 1995 that troops from the former Soviet Union had left approximately two tons of mines in waste dumps, in weapon pits, and in the ground near the Ralsko and Mlada military bases, which were occupied by Soviet troops from 1968 to 1991. Army demining units, with the assistance of three NGOs, Enmotec SRO, Geofyzika AS, and GMS AS, have been clearing these bases of mines, and expect to have completed the task by the end of 1999.⁽⁷⁵⁷⁾

Mine Action

The Czech Republic has donated $22,500 to the United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund for Assistance in Mine Clearance. In 1997 the Czech government donated CHF 6,000 to the ICRC to help mine victims.⁽⁷⁵⁸⁾ Czech IFOR and SFOR soldiers engaged in mine clearance in Bosnia-Herzegovina.⁽⁷⁵⁹⁾ The Czech government has said that "as international assistance to mine victims is concerned, health facilities in the Czech Republic are ready to admit for paid medical treatment a limited number of landmine victims, in particular children, and to ensure the supply of all necessary prostheses."⁽⁷⁶⁰⁾ In January 1999, the governments of Slovenia and the Czech Republic signed a declaration of cooperation in support of the International Trust Fund of the Republic of Slovenia for Demining, Mine Clearance and Assistance to Mine Victims in Bosnia and Herzegovina, based in Ljubljana, Slovenia.⁽⁷⁶¹⁾

GREECE

Mine Ban Policy

Greece signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 December 1997, at which time the Greek Embassy in Ottawa pledged that "ratification of this Convention will take place as soon as conditions relating to the implementation of its relevant provisions are fulfilled."⁽⁷⁶²⁾ This declaration on ratification has been filed with the United Nations Secretariat in New York. Greece has not yet ratified the Mine Ban Treaty.

Greece attended the treaty preparatory meetings and the Oslo negotiations, but as an observer in each case. Greece did not endorse the pro-treaty Brussels Declaration in June 1997. Greece did not cast a vote on the 1996 United Nations General Assembly resolution supporting a landmine ban, but voted in favor of resolutions supporting the Mine Ban Treaty in 1997 and 1998.

Greece has in the past expressed concern over the rapidity of the Ottawa process and has supported the Conference on Disarmament as the best forum for negotiating a universal landmine ban.⁽⁷⁶³⁾ In February 1999, Greece was one of 22 countries that endorsed a statement advocating the negotiation of a ban on transfers of antipersonnel landmines through the CD.⁽⁷⁶⁴⁾

Greece is a state party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons, but it has not ratified the amended 1996 Protocol II on mines.

Production, Transfer, and Stockpiling

Greece is known to have produced and exported at least one type of antipersonnel landmine, a copy of the U.S. M16A2.⁽⁷⁶⁵⁾ Greece has imported 57,034 antipersonnel mines from the United States, including 18,144 ADAM artillery-delivered, self-destructing mines for $2.56 million in 1988, and more than 30,000 M16 mines, 5,500 M14 mines, and M18A1 Claymore mines from 1973-1981.⁽⁷⁶⁶⁾ There is no information on other AP mines suppliers to Greece. There is no definitive information on the current size of Greece's stockpile of antipersonnel mines.⁽⁷⁶⁷⁾

The Greek government has asserted that landmine production in Greece has ceased, and in 1994 declared a comprehensive, indefinite moratorium on antipersonnel landmine exports.⁽⁷⁶⁸⁾

Landmine Problem and Mine Action

Mines are not considered to pose a danger to civilians in Greece. However, Turks attempting to cross illegally into Greece have been injured and killed in minefields near the Evros River, which marks the border between Greece and Turkey.⁽⁷⁶⁹⁾ Landmines dating from the Greek civil war (1947-1949) are also present along the northern border. The Greek government announced in 1998 an initiative to rid the forested northern border area of mines and transform it into a tourist destination.⁽⁷⁷⁰⁾ Greece has "adequate" mine removal and destruction capabilities.⁽⁷⁷¹⁾

Greece has donated $80,000 to the United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund for Assistance in Mine Clearance and has participated in UN demining and victim rehabilitation efforts in mine affected countries.⁽⁷⁷²⁾ As part of a 1998 military cooperation pact, Greece pledged to assist Zimbabwe with mine clearance.⁽⁷⁷³⁾

ICELAND

Iceland signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 December 1997, but has not yet ratified. Iceland was an active participant in all of the Ottawa Process treaty preparatory meetings and the negotiations. Iceland also voted in favor of the United Nations General Assembly resolutions supporting a landmine ban in 1996, 1997, and 1998. Iceland is not a state party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.  Iceland does not produce, transfer, or use landmines and maintains no landmine stockpiles. Iceland is not landmine affected, though sea mines from World War II occasionally wash up on its shores. ⁽⁷⁷⁴⁾

Iceland's representative at the Ottawa signing ceremony said that "Iceland will take an active interest in the International Action Plan to address assistance and rehabilitation of victims with the objective to contribute to the best of its ability in these two important areas."⁽⁷⁷⁵⁾ Iceland has donated $10,000 to the United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund for Assistance in Mine Clearance. Iceland has also donated $800,000 to Ossur, a company that manufactures prostheses, for the provision of prosthetic limbs, training, and equipment in Bosnia-Herzegovina.⁽⁷⁷⁶⁾

ITALY

Mine Ban Policy

One of the major producers and exporters of landmines in the world in the past,⁽⁷⁷⁷⁾ Italy began to change its landmine policy in 1993. Factors influencing the change included the looming economic crisis in this specific sector, the comparatively new and much stricter Italian legislation on arms trade (law 185/90), and the impact of the newly born international movement to ban landmines.

The policy shift is marked by the following three steps: 1) in November 1993 the Italian Government stopped authorizing the export of antipersonnel landmines; 2) on 2 August 1994 a unilateral moratorium on the production and trade of antipersonnel landmines was adopted; 3) on 20 January 1995 Italy deposited its instrument of ratification of the Convention on Conventional Weapons and it Protocol II on mines.

Since 1995, the Italian Parliament has worked closely with the Italian Campaign to Ban Landmines (ItCBL) on national legislation aimed at a comprehensive ban on antipersonnel landmines. The debate in Parliament became particularly intense throughout 1995-1996, with seven bills introduced by different political groups in this period.⁽⁷⁷⁸⁾

However, it was only with the disappointing outcome of the CCW Review Conference in May 1996 that the Italian government finally intensified its diplomatic efforts inside the EU, the G7 and the UN to promote more drastic measures against this weapon. Public pressure at this time was crucial in shaping a new Italian landmine policy.

Although initially with some degree of scepticism, Italy participated in the "International Strategy Conference: Towards a Ban on Antipersonnel Mines," in October 1996, which launched the Ottawa Process. Prior to that first Ottawa conference, Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini had announced Italy's decision to give up the production, trade, and stockpiling of antipersonnel mines at the United Nations General Assembly. The Italian government also sought to "promote further restrictions, in the hope that such measures will contribute to reaching a solid international understanding and a definitive ban."⁽⁷⁷⁹⁾ Toward that end, Italy wanted to "propose the prompt opening of international negotiations at the Disarmament Conference (CD) in Geneva,"⁽⁷⁸⁰⁾ because it viewed the elimination of an entire category of weapons as not just a humanitarian issue, but also as part of larger disarmament and security concerns.

When it became clear that movement in the CD was blocked indefinitely, Italy became convinced that the Ottawa Process was the only effective way to negotiate a binding agreement to ban antipersonnel landmines. On 13 June 1997, just before the Brussels Conference, the Government announced that Italy would completely renounce antipersonnel landmines, including their use.⁽⁷⁸¹⁾ In that respect, the Brussels Conference was a watershed for Italian participation in the Process.⁽⁷⁸²⁾

Law 374/97

The most significant commitment toward the total ban on landmines came on 29 October 1997 with the approval of domestic legislation banning these weapons - Law 374/97. The Italian legislation, though far from perfect, contains some valuable provisions. First and foremost, it has a very broad definition of APMs which include dual-use mines and mines equipped with anti-handling devices, as well as any such anti-manipulation devices in general.⁽⁷⁸³⁾ This definition has created problems for Italy as a member of NATO. Because the law applies to the Italian territory and any other territory under Italian jurisdiction and control, it follows that all landmines covered by the above mentioned definition, even those on Nato bases should be subject to the same clauses.

The law also provides for a comprehensive ban on landmine research; for strong sanctions, both civil and penal;⁽⁷⁸⁴⁾ requires the government to produce a report every six months on the status of implementation; the abolition of any secrecy regime (military or state) on landmines; and the destruction of stockpiles within five years.

The ItCBL has maintained that the law also contains significant flaws: the lack of any formal mechanism to carry out inspections and for ongoing monitoring of the law's implementation,⁽⁷⁸⁵⁾ no provision requiring any type of commitment in mine clearance programs; nor provisions for technological research for mine detection and removal.

This national ban legislation will serve as the implementing legislation for the Mine Ban Treaty.

Ratification

With the domestic ban already firmly in place, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lamberto Dini signed the Mine Ban Treaty for the Italian Government in Ottawa on 3 December 1997. The understanding at that time was that both government and Parliament would work for the rapid ratification of the Ottawa Convention. This was underscored by Dini in his address for the signing ceremony not that "to ensure that the Convention is brought rapidly into force, national parliaments must use 'fast track' methods to hasten the enactment of the ratification bills."⁽⁷⁸⁶⁾

Italy, however, was not quick to ratify the treaty. One of the major problems was reconciling some clauses of the domestic ban legislation and the text of the Mine Ban Treaty. The treaty had to be ratified without jeopardizing the national legislation. The ratification bill had to set up a minimum standard of prohibitions, and where there is a need for interpretation between the two norms, on mine related issues the stricter standard should prevail.⁽⁷⁸⁷⁾

A Government ratification bill was presented in Parliament on 18 June 1998.⁽⁷⁸⁸⁾ The original version threatened to weaken provisions of the national legislation 374/97, including the definition of an APM and sanctioning mechanism, among other things. The ratification bill would have introduced exceptions and reservations with regards to the Nato bases in the country, all of which are under Italian jurisdiction.⁽⁷⁸⁹⁾

The negotiation among government, parliament, military and ItCBL actors on the ratification bill proved more complex and time consuming than initially expected. On 10 February 1999, the Chamber of Deputies unanimously approved an amended bill, and so did the Senate on 11 March. At the time of writing, the formal deposit of the instrument of ratification at the United Nations had not occurred.

The Convention on Conventional Weapons

Italy signed the Convention on Conventional Weapons in 1980, but 14 years passed before it was ratified on 6 December 1994. With considerably more speed, Italy deposited its instrument of ratification of revised Protocol II on landmines on 13 January 1999.

Among the various interpretative statements annexed to the instrument of ratification, the one concerning article 2 of the Amended Protocol seems worth mentioning. It is Italy's understanding that the word "primarily" was inserted in the revised definition of an antipersonnel mine only in order to insure that anti-vehicle mines equipped with antihandling are NOT part of the APM definition, and thus restrictions in the revised Protocol II would not apply to them The Italian interpretation is an attempt to reduce the ambiguity of the controversial word "primarily" adopted in Protocol II and reconcile it with the Mine Ban Treaty definition of antipersonnel mines.⁽⁷⁹⁰⁾ (The Italian ban includes these anti-vehicle mines.)

The Conference on Disarmament

Along with France, Germany and others, Italy has long held that there is complementarity between the CD and the Mine Ban Treaty which could contribute to the effectiveness of the agreement.⁽⁷⁹¹⁾ In January 1997, prior to Italy's full commitment to the ban treaty, Foreign Minister Dini said, "Italy considers that the whole complex issue of antipersonnel landmines, imposing a total ban on their production, destroying existing stockpiles, and verifying their destruction is essentially a disarmament problem ....This Conference has the experience, the facilities and the personnel to handle these negotiations. We also know that various political initiatives are being taken, whose aims we wholly endorse, and which are also designed to rapidly define an international agreement. But we maintain that for such an agreement to be credible it must attract the largest possible number of countries, and avoid setting up a narrowly based regime that excludes the most important countries."⁽⁷⁹²⁾

More recently, Italy has backed efforts to attempt to begin negotiations on a ban on AP mine transfers in the CD, with the caveat that the definition of antipersonnel mines used in any CD negotiations must be the one given in the Mine Ban Treaty.⁽⁷⁹³⁾

Production and Transfer

Valsella, Tecnovar and Misar

In the past, Italy was one of the major producers and exporters of APMs. Its mine industry revolved around three small companies: Valsella and Misar, based in Brescia in the north, and Tecnovar, in Bari in Southern Italy. All three specialized in landmines and mine-related products and were involved in direct exports and licensed overseas production. Favored by major banking support, public financing of much weapons development and a permissive Italian export regime, these companies quickly achieved remarkable sales and profits through the late 1980s.

But in the late 1980s, this began to change. Factors contributing to the companies' decline included a) progressively strict arms export laws in Italy, culminating in law no. 185 in 1990; b) the end of some major conflicts that had provided the main market for Italian mines, first and foremost the Iran-Iraq war; and c) the beginning of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, with an important and active Italian national campaign.

The public pressure generated by the Campaign resulted in the final blow to the industry: the Italian government's decision to halt and then renounce the production of these weapons. It remains difficult to evaluate how much Italian know-how and productive capacity were transferred to developing countries prior to the ban, and its impact on the proliferation of antipersonnel mines today.

Valsella was the first of the three -- founded in 1969 by a group of Brescia-based entrepreneurs closely linked with the Ministry of Defense. In its early years, it supplied the Italian Defense Ministry, working on existing mines (such as the Valmara 59) and then expanding into development of new mines, particularly amagnetic landmines. Both Tecnovar, founded on 5 October 1971, and Misar, on 25 January 1977, were established by former employees of Valsella.

As the national market was small, these companies developed an export-orientated approach for production. Valsella focused on customers in "hot spots" such as Iraq, Morocco, perhaps Somalia, exporting both antipersonnel and antitank mines. From 1976 to 1979, with an average of 50 workers, Valsella's overall profits were close to 3 billion lire.⁽⁷⁹⁴⁾

During the 1970s, Tecnovar focused on the domestic market, producing 1,420,000 VAR 40 mines for the Italian Army in 1971-72 ; their last military contract was dated 1977.⁽⁷⁹⁵⁾ Only later on did it produce for export to customers in North Africa and the Middle East, in particular in conjunction with an assembly plant in Egypt (see below).

With the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq war in September 1980, Valsella began receiving government authorizations for exports to Iraq. A total of seven were granted, the last one issued in 1982 and expiring in January of 1984. The overall value of the exports amounted to more than US $110 million.⁽⁷⁹⁶⁾ But political pressures resulted in increasing restrictions on exports to Iraq. To skirt these restrictions, the company set up a new branch abroad in Singapore.

In 1981 Valsella signed its first agreement with the state-owned Chartered Industries of Singapore (CIS) to buy fully-assembled mines from Valsella.⁽⁷⁹⁷⁾ Then in 1982, a new partnership was forged with the founding of Valsella Pte Ltd. From 1982-1986, Valsella VS 50, VS 2.2 and Valmara mines were assembled in Singapore, using explosives from the Swedish company, Bofors, for shipment to Iraq.

It is not known exactly when the Singapore-based Valsella Pte Ltd. (later named Valmetec Trading pte Ltd⁽⁷⁹⁸⁾) halted its activity. However, in 1986 a new company, Valsella International Pte Ltd., was set up. It is currently registered under the category "wholesale trade in other machinery & equipment."⁽⁷⁹⁹⁾ It is a trading company, therefore the owners are not named.

In 1984, Fiat, through a second company, Gilardini, gradually gained control over Valsella and Misar.⁽⁸⁰⁰⁾ By this time Valsella mainly focused on the R&D of increasingly sophisticated landmines (like electronic mines and mines with remote control activation, with radio crypto-coded signals), while Misar carried out considerable research and development of naval mines, though not to the exclusion of land systems, such as its SB-33 scatterable mine.

Also, while Valsella only seemed peripherally interested in selling its know-how abroad, Misar was especially active in foreign licensing and coproduction, becoming an influential player in global production of small, detection-resistant antipersonnel mines. Many Misar landmines reached the global market via the following factories :

- Expal, Explosivos Alaveses, belonging to the Spanish group Explosivos Rio Tinto, probably controlled by the Kuwait Investment Office (KIO) during the Iran-Iraq war. License n. 493409, dated 16 March 1981.

- Spel , Sociedad Portugueisa Explosivos, Portugal.

- Elviemek, Hellenic Explosives and Ammunition Industry, Greece. License n. 9328 dated 17 May 1982. In the early '80s, Elviemek agreed on a production contract in South Africa with the local Armscor Holding, a company having close connections with the Israeli state-owned weapons manufacturer Israel Military Industries (IMI), based in Tel Aviv.

- Pakistan Ordnance Factories - Pakistan (indirectly).

The years immediately following Fiat's take over of the Italian landmine industry did not prove uniformly successful. While Misar's growth continued, Valsella's sales shrank, showing a negative balance by 1986. Its exports, previously tolerated by the Italian authorities, according to Valsella's top agent Mario Fallani,⁽⁸⁰¹⁾ were interrupted in 1987, when an investigation by Swedish Customs police leaked in Italy, resulting in Italian investigations into the company's dealings. Valsella's managers were arrested on a charge of illegal trading with Iraq. Plea-bargaining in their 1991 trial, they acknowledged having committed irregularities; in December 1991 the Supreme Court acquitted the managers of the serious crimes of illegal arms trade and violation of the currency regulations.

Mine Types and Sales

Valsella produced ten types of APMs. Its VS 50 has been one of the most common blast mines, capable of being scattered by ground vehicles or helicopters. VS 50 mines have been sold to different countries, including Morocco, (1976, 1977, 1978), Gabon (1981), and Iraq (1980, 1981, 1982, 1983). The VS-50 AR and VS-MK 2 are basically derivations of the VS 50.

Valsella began courting one of the then-rare prohibited customers, South Africa. The company supplied the Pretoria Government with technical information for its Valmara 69 antipersonnel mine. A patent for the mine was registered in South Africa on 5 December 1979.⁽⁸⁰²⁾ In the same year, 90,000 VS MK 2 antipersonnel mines were loaded on the Danish ship Pia Frem, at the small port of Talamone, in Tuscany. The official destination was Paraguay, via Buenos Aires, but its real destination was South Africa, then under international embargo.⁽⁸⁰³⁾ VS MK 2 mines were also sold to Angola.

Valsella exported both complete mines and c-k-d (complete knock down) components from 1982 to 1986 to Chartered Industries of Singapore (CIS). Between 1982 and 1986, Italian authorities issued Valsella 6 export authorizations to Singapore, concerning disassembled mines, components and detonators, for a total value of US$37 million. In those years, more than 3,800 metric tons of weapons, primarily landmines,⁽⁸⁰⁴⁾ were exported to Singapore. Valsella's profits soared from 10 billion lire in 1981, to 80 billion lire in 1982 and up to 107 billion lire in 1983.

Another popular Valsella model has been the Valmara V 69, a large plastic bounding fragmentation mine. The V 69 was sold to Iran (1976), to Somalia (1979), to South Africa (1980), and to Iraq (1981, 1982 and 1983). In 1983 they were exported to Singapore, their supposed final destination being Cambodia. The VS JAP was developed from the basic V 69 and was produced in unknown quantities by the Singapore based Chartered Industries Ltd., which sold it to third countries.

Valsella also produced a number of mine-laying systems including the Istrice, a vehicle-mounted system introduced in 1987; the Grillo; and the VS MD for use in helicopters and designed to carry 2,080 VS 50 or VS MK2 antipersonnel mines, or 200 VS 1.6 antitank mines. Valsella supplied Morocco with these helicopter-borne dispensers.

Misar's round SB 33 scatterable antipersonnel blast mine, developed in 1977, was its most successful model, being simple, reliable, and cheap. The SB 33 mine was sold to Argentina (1981, during the Falklands war), to Spain (to Expal, the final destination being Iraq, in 1982), to the Greek company Elviemek (also, with destination Iraq) and to Zaire (1982). The mine was also sold to the Netherlands and possibly other NATO counties as well. In 1984, when the Fiat Group entered the company, the mine was sold to Iran. In Portugal the licensed production of SB 33 started in 1984.

The SB 33AR is a modification of the basic SB 33, the main difference being the anti-removal device (AR). It was sold to Iran, Kuwait and Pakistan. Samples of this mine were exported to Jordan (1982) and to Pakistan (1983). Later on Pakistan, through the state-owned Pakistan Ordnance Factories P.O.F., produced some mines and components similar to the Misar models.

Misar also produced bounding fragmentation mines, the P 25 and P 40. The P 25 mines were sold to Iraq (1980), to Iran (1984), and to Australia, where in 1986, the Fiat group signed a licensing contract to transfer production technologies to that country. The P 40 was sold to Kuwait, to Iraq through Spel Portugal (1980), and to Australia (licensed production - 1986) .

Tecnovar focused more on domestic military production. But in 1979, Tecnovar began to export to customers in North Africa and the Middle East, primarily Egypt. Vito Alfieri Fontana, the company's owner, offered information about supplies to Egypt⁽⁸⁰⁵⁾ where some 1,242,000 TS 50 antipersonnel mines were assembled from 1979 onwards:

1979 - 100,000 mines; 1980 - 50,000 mines; 1982 - 225,000 mines; 1983 - 275,000 mines; 1985 - 282,000 mines; 1988 - 200,000 mines; 1990 - 50,000 mines; 1991 - 30,000 mines; 1993 - 30,000.

The assembling (and therefore the transfer of know-how) took place at the Heliopolis Company for Chemical Industries, owned by the Egyptian Ministry for Military Production. The firm sold the Italian APM model as the renamed T-79⁽⁸⁰⁶⁾. Through Egypt, Tecnovar mines are to be found in several countries, including Afghanistan⁽⁸⁰⁷⁾ and Rwanda. Between 1990 and 1992, the Italian Government also authorized the export of more than 200,000 antipersonnel and antitank mines to Egypt.

On 17 September 1996, a member of the UN International Commission of Inquiry on Rwanda found TS 50 AP mines in a stock of weapons confiscated from armed Hutu groups. After communications between the UN Secretary General and the Italian authorities, Italy's Representative to the UN confirmed that Tecnovar "manufactured the plastic parts of the yellow TS 50 type APMs in the period from 1980 to 1993, when the company stopped producing such items." He also revealed that "the Tecnovar company did not supply Ts-50 type APMs to Zaire, Kenya or the United Republic of Tanzania,"⁽⁸⁰⁸⁾ while noting that the company had supplied plastic parts for TS 50 mines to Brazil, Egypt, Spain and the United States. According to the owner of Tecnovar, the landmines found in Rwanda were part of the weapons supply that Egypt delivered to Kigali in 1992. This included 200,000 T-79 APMs⁽⁸⁰⁹⁾. As for the supplies to Brazil, Spain and the US, Fontana claims the mines were demonstration samples ⁽⁸¹⁰⁾

Tecnovar also produced a helicopter dispenser, DATS, with a capacity of 1,536 TS 50 AP mines or 128 MATS/2 antitank mines, or a mix of both.

Landmine exports by Italian manufacturers, 1976-1994⁽⁸¹¹⁾

Post-Production Moratorium

The Italian Government adopted a moratorium on antipersonnel mine production and trade on 2 August 1994. By 1995, Valsella was barely involved in military production (less than 7% of its sales); in 1996 and 1997, its production collapsed, with losses amounting to 16 billion lire. The crisis brought the company to the verge of bankruptcy, prior to its transfer and conversion to civil production (engineering and vehicle-projects). Before abandoning the sinking ship, however, the company tried the rejuvenate production with military orders, including antitank mines and mine scattering systems, but with little success. Between June and October 1997, the possible sale of the various production lines was under discussion, with some interest in the military and landmine productions by Austria's Dynamit Nobel and Spain's Expal, but it is not known if any of the discussions concerning individual products may have ended successfully.

In accordance to Law 374/97, and upon the Ministry of Industry's request, Valsella has valued the overall costs relating its antipersonnel stock-taking handover and destruction at 12 billion lire.

Tecnovar's budgets are available only until 1995. Since then, no exports have been recorded and it was closed down in 1998.

Misar's land and sea mine production line was sold to Societa Esplosivi Industriali (SEI), which is now controlled by the Paris-based Societe Anonyme d'Explosifs de Produit Chimique (SAEPC).

Components

The Italian Campaign to Ban Landmines has expressed concern about adequate controls on the possible sale of landmine components. The export of mine components, basically, can be disguised under three custom items. Within chapter 36 of the Harmonized System (HS 36) titled "Explosives, Matches and Other Miscellaneous Combustible Preparations," mine components could be hidden in the two items "Prepared explosives (other than propellant powders)" (HS 360200) and "Safety or detonating fuses; percussion or detonating caps; ignitors; electric detonators" (HS 360300) respectively; and within Chapter 93 (HS 93) titled "Arms and Ammunitions and Parts Thereof," in item "Other ammunitions n.e.s. (including bombs, grenades, torpedoes, mines, etc.)" (HS 930690).

The ItCBL notes that, in looking at the figures concerning Italian exports of explosive material and detonators to non EU countries in the period from 1993 to 1998, there were three countries to which Italy has exported more than US$1 million of such products: Slovenia - U.S. $1.33 million; Sierra Leone U.S. $1.32 million and Guinea U.S. $1.22 million.⁽⁸¹⁸⁾ The explosive material could have eluded controls and the procedures of Law 185/90 (on arms trade) and Law 374/97 (banning landmines) for the simple reason that it may have been categorized as an "industrial" and "non military" component.

Stockpiling

In compliance with Art. 6 of Law 374/97, a Government decree and report on stockpile destruction were presented on 19 May 1998, and finally approved in Parliament on 2 October 1998.⁽⁸¹⁹⁾ The explanatory report accompanying the decree, which provides most of the information below, is the first official account as to the numbers and types of antipersonnel landmines stocked both in military warehouses and in landmine producing companies. The figures given are vague and inadequate, and raise more questions than they answer. The first report was delivered on time, but the second, due in November 1998, has not been released as of March 1999. Despite the fact that the secrecy traditionally surrounding the issue of landmines (like most other weapons) has been abolished, it is still extremely hard to get any direct and credible information from the military officials in charge of the destruction process.

Nevertheless, for the very first time, landmines are being counted. According to the Government report, the stock of landmines owned by the Italian Armed Forces includes antipersonnel mines, antitank mines equipped with anti-handling devices,⁽⁸²⁰⁾ and certain submunitions (i.e. the scatterable munitions designed not to immediately explode upon contact with the ground).

Landmine Stocks of the Italian Armed Forces

Broad Categories of Weapons Numbers

Pressure mines (AUPS, MAUS/1, VAR/40, MK2) 4,000,000

Pressure mines (no longer used in service) 2,000,000

Wide range mines 450,000

Mines used for training purposes 700,000

Other types of landmines, submunitions - no available figure

Total landmine units (Approx.)7,500,000

Component and spare parts 700,000

Total spare parts units 700,000

Current information does not show Claymore mines in the stockpiles. Having said that, it still needs verifying whether Claymore(-type) mines have been imported, even if only for training purposes, given the widespread use of this type of landmine.

There is also information reported on the stock of landmine materials that producing companies and/or any other holder of landmines, in compliance with Law 374/97, must have delivered to appropriate collection sites as indicated by the local Carabinieri headquarters: approximately 30,000 mines and approximately 1.5 million pieces ("material of different nature and typology").⁽⁸²¹⁾ Specific figures for Valsella, Technovar, and SEI were not available.

This incomplete list of both the military and commercial stocks triggers a series of uneasy questions:

- Why are many mines, such as the VS 50, Valmara 69, SB 33 and so on not specified in either list?

-What sort of mines are the 700,000 devices for training purposes listed in the military stocks? Has this figure simply not been adjusted to reflect the much lower figure of training mines allowed in the Italian ban legislation and Mine Ban Ratification law?

- What are the submunitions that are required to be destroyed, according to Law 374/97?

- How are antitank mines' igniters categorized, which can be turned into effective antipersonnel mines with slight modifications (for example, the so called PMC buttons)?⁽⁸²²⁾

Concerned by the lack of real transparency and completeness regarding the Italian stockpile and its future dismantling, the ItCBL is making serious inquiries and demanding a more participatory role in the destruction process.

Destruction

According to sources from the Ministry of Defense, Italy started the destruction of its stockpiles of antipersonnel landmines last December 1998, and 30,000 AUPS pressure mines are said to have been destroyed.⁽⁸²³⁾ The timetable for destruction of all APMs is five years from the entry into force of Law 374/97. As the Government report states, "because we believe it possible to start the activities within the current year, it is expected to conclude them by year 2001."⁽⁸²⁴⁾

Article 3 of the Government decree provides that the General Direction of Terrestrial Weapons is responsible for the stockpile elimination. This is basically carried out in two ways:

1. All pressure antipersonnel mines (AUPS, MAUS/1, VAR/40, MK2) and their components, excluding detonators, are to be destroyed at the only Italian Army facility capable of such operations at Baiano di Spoleto.

2. Other mine destruction is to be contracted to private companies through the demilitarisation program managed by the Nato Maintenance and Supply Agency (NAMSA), or a national bidding process. The commercial companies, selected from those with NATO AQAP-110 certification, will destroy all remaining materials (through decomposition of mines, grinding of inert materials, fusion of the explosive material) in compliance with security and environmental constraints of Law 374/97.

Technical and administrative procedures for the destruction of these stocks are being developed, along with the monitoring procedures by the military supervision officers.⁽⁸²⁵⁾ The Government report states that "the financial commitment will to a great extent depend upon the bidding's outcome, and on the possibility of stipulating an active contract concerning the remaining material which companies dealing with explosives could be interested in. For the moment, the estimated burden amounts to around 20 billion lire."⁽⁸²⁶⁾

Mines for Training

According to the national ban law, the number of mines being retained for training purposes cannot exceed 10,000 units, "which can be renewed by means of importation."⁽⁸²⁷⁾ In the Mine Ban Treaty ratification bill, this number has been reduced to 8,000 mines, also in response to international criticism.

Foreign Stockpiles

Another matter of serious concern is foreign AP mines stocked in Italy, particularly those on Nato bases. The issue is extremely sensitive, and liable to give way to different implementing interpretations. Following a strict reading of the Italian legislation, all Nato antipersonnel landmines stocked in the country should have been disclosed in quantity and category by 17 March 1998, to be handed over to specially designated local sites by 14 June 1998

There are, however, some controversial implications:

- Will Nato, and particularly US Armed Forces, surrender stocks of antipersonnel landmines as well as, according to the Italian law, antitank and anti-vehicle mines?

- How can Italy, on a unilateral basis, force and monitor the compliance of its domestic law? - And would it have the political will to do so?

Very little is known about locations, quantities and types of Nato landmines in Italy - or what Nato Forces have done regarding the provisions of Law 374/97. (See U.S. country report). In the accounting of stocks in Italy, there is no mention of Nato landmines. Interviews with various Staff officers clearly indicated that the Italian Government will not press queries with its Nato allies on these matters.

Given the complexity of the matter, the Government has tried to find a way out through the treaty ratification bill. Article 5 of the amended text states that "the provisions of the Convention are applied to foreign Armed Forces based in Italy, in accordance with international treaties," meaning that Nato armed forces would be exempted from the national law's obligation for good.

An additional answer to the problem is found in Article 6 of the ratification bill, which provides that "The stocks of antipersonnel mines kept by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Armed Forces and located in the national territory at the time of the entry into force of the present bill, will remain under the control of pertaining commands until the term fixed for their destruction by Article 5 of Law 29 October 1997, n. 374. If need be, these authorities can transfer the mines to any other suitable place, for their custody"

Use

At the end of WW II the Italian Army received landmines mainly from the U.S. and UK. As a defeated nation, it was forbidden at that time to develop and produce new military equipment. Mines were used to defend the border from potential Warsaw Pact invaders. mainly in mountain passes and valleys along the northeastern border. The alert situation along what was called 'the first defense line', intersecting the regions of Trentino Alto Adige, Veneto and Friuli, was maintained until the collapse of the Soviet Bloc.

Until 1996, APMs were used by the Italian Armed Forces in peacekeeping operations (like Somalia, or Bosnia). Only non-active mines are being used for training in mine clearance operations by the Italian Army. The Army claims to not use Claymore mines and, in compliance with Law 374/97, Italy can not use ANY munitions or device which might function as an antipersonnel landmine (see the definition of antipersonnel landmine given in art. 2 of Law 374/97 mentioned above).

Landmine Problem

Italy was one of the most mine-affected countries in Europe after World War II. But because resources were dedicated to its clearance, between August 1944 - June 1948, 1 billion sqm of land was surveyed of which 200 million sqm were cleared. Some 120 officers ; 60 Non Commissioned Officers; 1,500 auxiliary and office personnel were involved in the operations at a cost of 6 billion lire (3.6 million USD). There were 915 casualties, of which 390 were fatal. In the same period, 6,721 municipalities were cleared of over 13 million UXOs, at a cost of 2 billion lire (1.2 million USD).⁽⁸²⁸⁾

Today there are no mined areas in Italy but explosive devices left over from World War I and World War II can still be found.⁽⁸²⁹⁾ Italy still has rather strict legislation, which requires systematic clearance by private companies, before any infrastructure work can begin. Once the clearance work is over, the Army Engineering Corps certifies the results according to the fixed security standards. This law has recently been enforced for the construction of a new high-speed railway system, and before the construction of the new international airport in Milan.

Italian Military Involved in Demining Activities

The Army Engineering Corps carries out military demining in war operations, or at the end of an armed conflict, in peace-keeping operations.⁽⁸³⁰⁾ With 150 men, its mandate is to deal with mine/UXO neutralization, demolitions, mobility restoration and bridge building activities. Particularly important is the activity of BOE (Bonifica Ordigni Esplosivi) teams, which supervise mine removal and are engaged in mine awareness campaigns for schoolchildren. The Corps' Operative Demining Center (COB) is responsible for the exchange of information and coordination with similar structures in other countries. COB also trains all Italian deminers working in the Army Engineering Corps. Italian EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) teams regularly offer training courses for Italian personnel due to work in mined areas abroad.

From 1989 to the present, Italian Army Engineers have mainly been involved demining operations through United Nations and NATO operations.⁽⁸³¹⁾ Under the UN, engineers were in Pakistan from 1989-91 for Operation SALAM, training Afghani refugees in Peshawar and in Quetta. For one year two teams of twenty people total trained around 1,500 local deminers.⁽⁸³²⁾ From 1995-96, two Italian teams trained the local population in demining operations in Angola.

For NATO, eight officials of the Engineering Corps trained members of the Kuwaitian Army and Police in various demining operations techniques from August 1991-December 1991.⁽⁸³³⁾ Since December 1995, Italian military have been involved in operations in Bosnia-Herzegovina to guarantee the security of Italian personnel and to train the local population. They have also carried out some monitoring activities during the demining programs carried out by Serbs and Bosnian Muslims. The Italian EOD team carried out the destruction of landmines, identified 14,500 minefields, and recovered 1,134 UXO, 373 landmines; 76 antitank landmines, 600 projectiles and bombs.⁽⁸³⁴⁾ Finally, EOD specialists have been training the Albanian Army since 1997 and are involved in the monitoring and coordination of demining operations.⁽⁸³⁵⁾

Private Commercial Companies

In Italy there are 32 commercial companies involved in UXO clearance. Among them, only the Florence-based company ABC (Appalti, Bonifiche, Costruzioni) has recognized international experience in UXO/mine clearance in heavily contaminated countries. In 1996 in Croatia, the company cleared some 20 Km of a strategic stretch of railway line between the Sisak and Una river on behalf of IFOR-International Armed Forces. The 3-month program was funded by the European Commission. In Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1997, it cleared 500,000 sq meters on the banks of the River Sava with the financial support of the World Bank, amounting to 2 billion lire (US$1.20 million).⁽⁸³⁶⁾

Working in Angola in 1997, ABC began the clearance of 1,300 km along the railway line "Caminho de Ferro de Benguela," including 58 bridges, under contract with the Angolan government for 40 billion lire (US$24 million). The demining program in Angola was interrupted with the resumption of the war. To that time, ABC had carried out mine clearance activities valued at 2 billion lire (US$1.2 million).⁽⁸³⁷⁾

Non-Governmental Organizations

Only one Italian NGO, INTERSOS, carries out humanitarian demining activities. Its Humanitarian Demining Unit was begun in 1995 with military personnel retired from the Army Engineering Corps. Since then, it has been involved in mine awareness programs, reconstruction projects for mine-affected communities, as well as training courses of EOD experts for humanitarian demining programs. Intersos identifies priority areas for mine action with the local authorities, and in coordination with other ongoing programs of rehabilitation and sustainable human development.

Working in Bosnia, INTERSOS cleared residential areas on the Serbian side of Sarajevo for a rehabilitation project, funded by the Italian government, which resulted in the resettlement of 400 families. A similar project in Mumbasci Village, in the Tuzla Province, funded by the European Commission, resulted in the resettlement of 42 families. Finally, booby-traps were cleared in Hassan Kamija school in Sarajevo, funded through the Italian Railways and the Lombardia Trade Union Federation of the Railway Personnel for a total amount of 1 billion lire (US$600,000). As a result of the clearance and subsequent rehabilitation effort, 1,200 students were able to return to school. ⁽⁸³⁸⁾

In Angola,⁽⁸³⁹⁾ two Intersos HDU experts supervised a White Helmets/UNDP project to clear territory in the Cuando Cubango Province with the 7th Deminer Brigade (50 operators) of the INAROEE. This clearance priority had been identified by INAROEE, in agreement with the provincial governor. The program, between August 1997 and April 1998, cleared 280,000 sqm, at a total cost of about US$700,000 (unit cost for cleared sqm= $2.5/sqm). Clearance included 6 minefields, 2 stretches of road, a railway bridge and 4 rural areas and a logistical area, along with emergency actions.⁽⁸⁴⁰⁾ In January 1999, INTERSOS began an 18 month demining project in the Huila Province, sponsored by the European Union and the Italian Government, for a total amount of 1.7 MECU.

Mine Action Funding

Between 1995 and 1997, Italy funded 18 billion lire (U.S.$10.45 million) through bilateral and multilateral programmes including the UN Voluntary Trust Fund, World Bank, NGOs, the Ministry Defence and Local Authorities. Fund were allocated for mine clearance of priority areas (schools, hospitals and villages, mine awareness programmes, training of local deminers). The broader context for this funding activity is humanitarian relief assistance, peace processes and sustainable human development.

Italy funded 500 million lire (approx. US$300,000) in 1997 and 17 billion lire (U.S.$9.6 million) in 1998 for victim assistance, including emergency aid, surgery, prostheses, rehabilitation, social and economic reintegration, training, prevention. Recipients included the ICRC, WHO, NGOs, local authorities. The funds were spent in countries including Angola, Mozambique, Bosnia, Afghanistan. The beneficiaries are war victims, disabled people, families at risk and the broader context of this funding activity is humanitarian relief assistance, peace process, sustainable human development.

From 1995 to 1998 Italy's contribution to the UN Voluntary Trust Fund amounted to U.S. $1,205,284.⁽⁸⁴¹⁾

In the 1995-1997 period, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Development Cooperation Department contributed to mine action activities through the following multilateral and bilateral programs:

1995 - 1 billion lire (U.S.$ 598,800);

Angola: To UNICEF (AGAIN, DEFN COUNTERPART) for demining activities, identification of safety areas, social-educational programmes.

1995 - 1 billion lire (U.S.$598,800);

Afghanistan: To WHO for mine awareness, victim/survivor assistance

1996 - 1 billion lire (U.S.$598,800);

Afghanistan: ICRC's physical rehabilitation, technical orthopaedic programmes

1997 - 300 million lire (US$179,600);

Bosnia-Herzegovina: To AVSI (an NGO) assistance to local initiatives, mine awareness.⁽⁸⁴²⁾

In 1998, the Italian Government pledged a contribution of about 20 billion lire (US$11.97 million) for demining operations and victim assistance to support the following programs.⁽⁸⁴³⁾

- 2.5 billion lire (U.S. $1.5 million): ICRC activities in Afghanistan ,Cambodia and south Caucasus.

- 10 billion lire⁽⁸⁴⁴⁾ (U.S. $5.9 million): Angola for training of local deminers, demining activities and mapping.

- 2.5 billion lire (U.S. $1.5 million): UNDP in Mozambique for demining actions and mapping.

- 500 million lire (U.S. $299,400): Somalia for victim assistance and surgery programmes at Mogadiscio North Hospital.

- 8 billion lire (U.S. $1.07 million) 600 million lire (approx U.S. $359,300): Bosnia-Herzegovina for WB, EU, (UN) MAC demining actions to the municipality of Stup,

aimed at reinforcing the local institutions.

- 500 million lire (U.S. $299,400): Croatia: MAC (UN) for demining activities and training of deminers.

Mine Awareness

The Italian Government supports mine awareness programs run by international NGOs in collaboration with local NGOs. In Sarajevo, Intersos produced and distributed about 10,000 T-shirts for a mine awareness program funded by the Italian Government, the Canadian Government, the European Commission and other private donors. The T-shirts had drawings of different kinds of APM used in the area and were distributed through the schools. Children (and their families) were of course the target group of the program, with the collaboration of the teachers. This project was financed by ECHO for a total amount of 700.000 ECU and by USAID for a total amount of US$50.000. Although initially conceived for students only, the T-shirt awareness program was later extended to several displaced groups, which Intersos had come to support from March to December 1996 by means of food aid programs. Food parcels were distributed to 2,500 displaced families, for a period of six months, on the Serb side of Sarajevo, and the T-shirt was part of the parcel.

The Rome-based NGO CIES was involved in mine awareness activities and information initiatives in the district of Mossurize, Manica province, in Mozambique, in 1993-94. Mine awareness was organized in the schools of the area, and at village/community level.

Reconstruction & Development Of Cleared Areas

In April 1993, CIES was involved in a socioeconomic reconstruction and resettlement project for refugees and displaced persons in the central and northern areas in the District of Mossurize, Province of Manica, in Mozambique.⁽⁸⁴⁵⁾ The target area of the district was infested with mines and totally isolated from the rest of the province. The only access to the capital Espungabera was through the Zimbabwe-Mount Selinda border post. A number of the project activities planned were based on the assumption that the main roads, and in particular the provincial road like Espungabera to Chimoio, were to be cleared in a relatively short period of time, as the plan of the UN Mine Clearance Committee suggested.

Demining operations along the crucial road were only completed in December 1994. The widespread presence of mines hampered access to rural areas and safe paths leading to settlements had to be identified, and only then could work be undertaken to make the sites accessible to vehicles. The opening of roads was considered an absolute priority both by the district authorities and by the population. So, the survey of demining and the opening of provincial roads had been included in the plan of the government/UN program.

Subsequently, the presence of overlooked mines was confirmed, making it necessary to demine the area again. For that purpose a demining squad from the Mozambican Army was contracted. Ultimately the project achievements include survey and demining of 85 Km of road; survey and demining of 5 surrounding areas (including old schools and commercial centers); destruction of 56 explosive devices (2 antitank mines, 12 antipersonnel mines, 44 mortar explosives or bazookas); opening and rehabilitation of 95 km of roads, rehabilitation/reconstruction of 5 bridges on small rivers.

The project was funded by the European Union, for a total value of US$597,744 and by UNOHAC, with a contribution of US$459,915. The overall costs for demining activities and road reconstruction was around US$40,000. Contracts were signed with EC in January 1994 and with UNOHAC in February 1994. Priority was given to the construction or rehabilitation of service infrastructures, invaluable to the promotion of agricultural development. All activities were planned and organized with the DDA (Directao Distrital de Agricoltura), whose personnel and extension agents carried out the relevant field work.

Landmine Survivor Assistance

ASAL is a small Italian NGO and a member of the ItCBL. It is involved in one training project named after an Angolan child "Joao Antonio," which consists of sending Angolan rehabilitation technical personnel to Italy for 2 months training at the Centro Protesi di Vigorso di Budrio, near Bologna. The project started in 1996 and is entirely based on private donations.

Intersos is currently carrying out a 1997-1999 technical orthopedic project funded by the European Commission (ECHO) in Burundi, amounting to 500,000 ECU. The program has been divided into three phases, each one lasting six months. This program promotes orthopedic surgery in Muyinga, Gitega e Bujumbura provinces.⁽⁸⁴⁶⁾ During the first phase, 142 surgery programs for prostheses and rehabilitation were implemented, and 174 during the second phase. This activity has been accomplished by specialized local structures like CNAR (national specialized organization of Burundi).

The Italian NGO Emergency, involved in life support for civilian war victims, has refused to give any information for this report on its activities in Kurdistan and Cambodia.

The Italian Red Cross is currently working with ICRC on two projects concerning victim assistance and rehabilitation programmes in Kabul⁽⁸⁴⁷⁾ and in Addis Abeba.⁽⁸⁴⁸⁾ There is an internal administrative agreement between the Italian Red Cross and ICRC, by which Italy collects funds for prosthetic/rehabilitation facilities in the two centers mentioned above. This project has been extended until the year 2000.

From 1995, the regional Italian Red Cross section of Venice and some doctors have decided to undertake victim assistance initiatives for children from Bosnia, who have come to Italy for surgery and rehabilitation. This initiative has been funded through voluntary contributions, as well as through media subscriptions (eg, the newspaper Gazzettino of Venice, which raised 600 million lire).⁽⁸⁴⁹⁾ Around 100 patients have been rehabilitated, thanks to the cooperation of the local public health services and the involvement of the entire local community.

Responding to repeated requests from the Italian Campaign to Ban Landmines, and in accordance with the relevant provisions contained in the Mine Ban Treaty, the Development Cooperation Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has recently convened the first meeting aimed at setting up a joint 'working group" focused on humanitarian mine action. The underlying principle is institutions and civil society working together to identify the guidelines for an Italian policy on mine action and victim assistance, involving all national actors which through their own varied experiences have acquired significant expertise on various aspects of the landmine issue. The first meeting was held on 22 February 1999.

LIECHTENSTEIN

Liechtenstein signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997. It has not yet ratified the treaty. Liechtenstein first voiced its support for an immediate and total ban on antipersonnel mines on 22 April 1996 during the negotiations on the Landmine Protocol of the Convention on Conventional Weapons. In December 1996, it voted for the UN General Assembly resolution calling on states to pursue vigorously an international agreement banning antipersonnel mines. Liechtenstein endorsed the pro-Mine Ban Treaty Brussels Declaration in June 1997, and was a full participant in the Oslo negotiations in September 1997. Liechtenstein also voted in favor of United Nations General Assembly resolutions supporting the Mine Ban Treaty in late 1997 and 1998. Liechtenstein is a state party to the CCW, and ratified amended Protocol II on 19 November 1997.

Liechtenstein does not possess, produce, transfer, or use antipersonnel landmines. It is not mine-affected.⁽⁸⁵⁰⁾ Liechtenstein has donated $47,656 to the United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund for Assistance in Mine Clearance.⁽⁸⁵¹⁾

LITHUANIA

Mine Ban Policy

On 26 February 1999, the Lithuanian Ambassador to the United Nations, Mr. Justys, signed the Mine Ban Treaty in New York. Along with its signature, Lithuania made the following formal declaration: "The Republic of Lithuania subscribes to the principles and purposes of the [Convention] and declares that ratification of the Convention will take place as soon as the relevant conditions relating to implementation of [the] provisions of the Convention are fulfilled." Lithuania attended all the Treaty preparatory meetings of the Ottawa Process, but did not endorse the pro-treaty Brussels Declaration in June 1997, came to the Oslo negotiations only as an observer, and did not sign the treaty when it opened for signature in Ottawa in December 1997. However, Lithuania did vote for the pro-ban UN General Assembly resolutions in 1996, 1997, and 1998. In September 1998, President Valdas Adamkus had stated, "Ratification of the Convention on the Prohibition of Antipersonnel Mines is our long-term goal."⁽⁸⁵²⁾ A Foreign Ministry official said in January 1999 that Lithuania would likely sign the treaty, taking into account signature to and ratification of the treaty by neighboring countries in the region.⁽⁸⁵³⁾

Also in January 1999, an official at the Ministry of Defense said:

"Lithuania recognizes that APMs are a barbaric arm and shall be eliminated from the arsenals. At the same time Lithuania is just now forming its army, and mines obtained during the first years of independence cannot be destroyed only for support of ideas. At this time safe storage and use is secured by corresponding measures taken by Lithuanian armed forces. There are technical problems to get all the documents relevant to the landmine issue, including translation into Lithuanian. The negative attitude of neighbors (Belarus, Russia) towards the ban is also to be taken into account. Lithuania has neighbors who have said they will ratify only after all Security Council members have joined the ban. Today it is hard to refuse of the tactical use of landmines, since it forms a significant part of the Lithuanian defense potential (which is small anyway). There is a long time period needed to replace antipersonal mines with other weapon systems, retraining of ground force personnel for the use of such other weapon systems, and revision of military doctrine."⁽⁸⁵⁴⁾

On 3 June 1998 Lithuania ratified the Convention on Conventional Weapons, including amended Protocol II on mines. It was the twentieth state to deposit its instrument of ratification of amended Protocol II, thereby triggering its entry into force.

Production, Transfer, Stockpiling, Use

Lithuania has not produced antipersonnel mines. Its existing stock of Soviet mines were obtained in the early 1990s. According to information provided by the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry, Lithuania has never exported antipersonnel mines.⁽⁸⁵⁵⁾ The legal basis for that is a Lithuanian law of 5 July 1995 on transit, import and export of strategic goods and technologies. The list of strategic goods includes landmines. The Ministry of Economics together with the Fund of Arms issues licenses for strategic goods, and such licenses were never issued for antipersonnel mines.

On 1 September 1998, Lithuania passed a two-year moratorium on the export of APMs. The decision was passed with the aim to contribute to the global political and practical efforts to eliminate APMs worldwide and to harmonize Lithuania's position with that of the EU (Joint Action of the EU 97/817/CFSP and the EU code of Conduct on Arms Exports, June 8,1998).

In the beginning of the 1990's when Lithuania regained its independence, a special Protocol was signed between Lithuania and Russia on Russian military transit through Lithuanian territory. The Protocol has expired, but the Lithuanian government has extended the agreement by corresponding diplomatic statements. Russian military transit has been regulated by defining the amount and type of such military transits, and under the condition that arms are transferred through Lithuanian territory separately from military personnel; any transit is accompanied by Lithuanian military convoy.⁽⁸⁵⁶⁾ According to the information provided by a Lithuanian Defense Ministry representative, as a result of the Lithuanian-Russian agreement, it is possible that Russian antipersonnel mines are transferred through Lithuanian territory.⁽⁸⁵⁷⁾

There are stockpiles of APMs in Lithuania. A Foreign Ministry official said the size of the stockpile will be made public only after Lithuania ratifies the Mine Ban Treaty, but also said that the number of APMs now in stock corresponds to the amounts allowed in the treaty for training purposes.⁽⁸⁵⁸⁾

Landmine Problem and Mine Action

Rather frequently, unexploded ammunition, including landmines from WWII, is found in Lithuania. Large numbers of explosives are in Rukla, not far from Kaunas. The Lithuanian army has 50 demining specialists. The Army brigade, "Gelezinis Vilkas," has an engineering platoon in each battalion. The Lithuanian unit of IASFOR within the Danish battalion has well trained demining specialists with experience in Bosnia. There are special vehicles for transportation of explosives available. Lithuania has sufficient equipment to destroy all explosives in Lithuanian soil.⁽⁸⁵⁹⁾ In January 1999 Lithuania suggested its experts could participate in international mine clearance projects.⁽⁸⁶⁰⁾

There are no awareness education programs in Lithuania. There has been one casualty reported in Lithuanian armed forces; Lieutenant Valteris received fatal injuries during his mission in Bosnia. There is a plan to establish a medical battalion which would have specially trained persons to deal with mine injuries.⁽⁸⁶¹⁾ Landmine victims (mostly elder people, who got their injuries during the WWII and a few who participated in the Afghan war) are receiving support determined by Lithuanian laws for the disabled.⁽⁸⁶²⁾ Lithuania is planning to contribute to the UN Voluntary Trust Fund for Assistance in Mine Clearance.⁽⁸⁶³⁾

LUXEMBOURG

Mine Ban Policy

Luxembourg signed the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty on 4 December 1997, but it has not yet ratified. Luxembourg participated fully in the Ottawa Process diplomatic meetings to develop the treaty, as well as the Oslo negotiations. Luxembourg also voted for the key 1996, 1997 and 1998 UN General Assembly resolutions in support of a ban on antipersonnel landmines.

Luxembourg first stated its support for a ban in April 1996, during the review conference of the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW). On 25 April 1996, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Poos, and the Minister of the Public Forces, Mr. Bodry, received a delegation of Luxembourg non-governmental organizations which had collected signatures on a petition calling for a total ban on landmines. The two ministers used this occasion to announce their support for an immediate ban on the production, stockpiling, export and use of an antipersonnel landmines.⁽⁸⁶⁴⁾

During its tenure as President of the European Union in the second half of 1997, Luxembourg focused on European policy on AP mines and on 28 November 1997, those efforts resulted in the adoption of a Joint Action on antipersonnel mines.⁽⁸⁶⁵⁾

On 22 September 1998, a Member of Parliament put a question to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, asking why the ratification has not been introduced yet.⁽⁸⁶⁶⁾ In his answer to the question, on 9 November 1998, the Minister of Foreign Affairs stated, "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had decided to seize the opportunity of the ratification of the Ottawa Convention to ratify also two other protocols related to disarmament, particularly the protocol II [of the CCW]…. Therefore the Ministry has decided to submit them to a 'bloc' ratification….The Government Council of 9 October 1998 has approved the bill for the three ratifications. The bill was tabled to the Council of State on 22 October 1998."⁽⁸⁶⁷⁾ Subsequently, the bill was tabled at the Chamber of Representatives on 22 November 1998.⁽⁸⁶⁸⁾ As of 20 March 1999, ratification had not yet been voted on by the Parliament because comments from the Council of State had not yet been forthcoming.⁽⁸⁶⁹⁾

The commentary on the legislation notes, "Some of the restrictions included in the Mine treaty are already established in the national legislation. The law of 15 March 1983 on arms and ammunition forbids in its first category (prohibited arms) among others, the arms and other devices destined to strike a blow at persons or goods by fire or explosion." There is also the Grand Ducal regulations of 31 October 1995 related to the import, export, and transit of arms, ammunition and material that serves especially for military use , and related technology. In that regulation, there is a list of the products for which the import, export and transfer are forbidden. On 7 April 1997, a ministerial regulation included antipersonnel landmines in that list."⁽⁸⁷⁰⁾

Another law is needed, however, as the existing legislation does not cover the States and the activities of the Public Forces. The Bill is composed of three articles : the first one is the endorsement of the ban mine convention, the second specifies the prohibited acts and the third states the sanctions in case of non-compliance of the law.⁽⁸⁷¹⁾

Luxembourg is a party to the CCW and its original Protocol II on landmines. As described above, ratification of amended Protocol II and the additional Protocol to the CCW is linked to ratification of the Mine Ban Treaty.

Production, Transfer and Stockpiling

Luxembourg has never produced or exported antipersonnel landmines. Luxembourg has imported some mines in the past for the armed forces, of American and Belgian origin.⁽⁸⁷²⁾ No additional information could be found on this matter.

On 25 April 1996, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Public Forces announced the beginning of the destruction of stockpiles, with the exception of a small number for mine clearance training.⁽⁸⁷³⁾ That destruction was completed in August 1997.⁽⁸⁷⁴⁾ There was no additional costs for the destruction of the stocks, as army technicians destroyed the mines.⁽⁸⁷⁵⁾

The number of mines destroyed was 9,600, which has been confirmed by the Deputy Chief of Staff.⁽⁸⁷⁶⁾ The Army has kept 500 mines of each type in stock for training purposes; these include: Belgian M35bg and U.S. M2A1 and M16 bounding antipersonnel mines. These mines are going to be used for training of deminers. The training requires 2-4 mines every 4 months to train contingents going on UN missions.⁽⁸⁷⁷⁾

Mine Action

Luxembourg is not currently affected by mines, but unexploded ordnance from World War One and World War Two are still a problem, requiring intervention by EOD specialists in 1999. In Luxembourg, UXO clearance is the responsibility of the Ministry of Public Forces. Clearance is carried out by the Demining Service, which responds to about 200 requests every year.⁽⁸⁷⁸⁾

In 1998, the Luxembourg government gave approximately U.S. $600,000 to the UXO Lao Trust Fund. The majority of that grant is earmarked for the salaries of the Lao deminers in Savannaketh province.⁽⁸⁷⁹⁾ Luxembourg has contributed a total of $226,567 to the UN Voluntary Trust Fund for Assistance in Mine Clearance.⁽⁸⁸⁰⁾ In 1997, Luxembourg contributed to victim assistance projects through a grant of 4,187,970 F.lux (U.S. $114,742) given to the ICRC.⁽⁸⁸¹⁾

MALTA

Malta signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 December 1997. It has not yet ratified the treaty. Malta first voiced its support for an immediate and total ban on antipersonnel mines on 2 May 1996 during the negotiations on the Landmine Protocol of the Convention on Conventional Weapons. In December 1996, it voted for the UN General Assembly resolution calling on states to pursue vigorously an international agreement banning antipersonnel mines. Malta endorsed the pro-Mine Ban Treaty Brussels Declaration in June 1997, and was a full participant in the Oslo negotiations in September 1997. Malta also voted in favor of United Nations General Assembly resolutions supporting the Mine Ban Treaty in late 1997 and 1998. Malta is a state party to the CCW (26 June 1995), but has not ratified amended Protocol II.

Malta does not possess, produce, transfer, or use antipersonnel landmines. It is not mine-affected.⁽⁸⁸²⁾ Malta has donated $1,952 to the United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund for Assistance in Mine Clearance.⁽⁸⁸³⁾

MOLDOVA

Background⁽⁸⁸⁴⁾

Moldova declared independence from the Soviet Union on 27 August 1991. Previously, the region of Transdniester (also called the "Transnistrian Moldovan Republic," or PMR - Pridnestrovskaya Moldavskaya Respublika) had declared independence from Moldova on 2 September 1990. Forces from Moldova and the PMR battled each other in 1992 in a conflict in which both sides used antipersonnel mines. Peacekeeping forces (with Russian, Belarussian, and Ukrainian troops) have been in Moldova since July 1992.

The Russian (Soviet) 14th Army has been based in the Transdniester region of Moldova since 1956. The stockpile of Russian arms and ammunition in the Transdniester region is huge, reportedly containing 500,000 tons of weaponry , including landmines, worth $20 billion. The stockpiles are said to be poorly guarded, and thus easily accessible.⁽⁸⁸⁵⁾ The Russian 14th Army reportedly has provided the Transdniestrian separatists with large amounts of weapons, including mines, as well as training facilities and financial support.⁽⁸⁸⁶⁾ Russia and Moldova signed an agreement in October 1994 on the withdrawal of the 14th Army from Transdniester, but the Russian government balked at ratifying it, and another stalemate ensued. PMR forces denounced the agreement.⁽⁸⁸⁷⁾ Russia apparently deems Transdniester as a key to the Balkans and will not give up its military presence. The PMR leadership has tried to get special status for the PMR as a part of Russia. Talks have continued to try to settle the status of the Transdniester region, but as yet no to avail. The OSCE believes that Transdniester should not be recognized as an independent state but be granted some form of special status with autonomy.⁽⁸⁸⁸⁾

Mine Ban Policy

Moldova signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997. It has not yet ratified it. Moldova was not active in the Ottawa Process, and did not participate in the treaty negotiations in Oslo. But it did endorse the pro-treaty Brussels Declaration in June 1997, and voted in favor of the pro-ban UN General Assembly resolutions in 1996, 1997, and 1998. It is not a state party to the 1980 Convention on Conventional Weapons.

Production

Although Transdniester is not recognized as an independent state, it must be distinguished from Moldova with respect to arms production. The Moldovan government is not believed to produce landmines. However, Moldova has accused Transdniester of producing its own arms, including antipersonnel mines. Arms factories located in Ribnita, Tiraspol, and Tighina were part of the Soviet Union's military supply complex and are continuing to produce weapons, Moldovan officials claim.⁽⁸⁸⁹⁾ The Transdniester government admitted that it did produce arms in order "to maintain the same military footing with Moldova."⁽⁸⁹⁰⁾

Transfer

The Moldovan government is not known to have imported or exported antipersonnel landmines, but inherited stocks from the USSR. The Russian 14th Army has provided the PMR separatists with mines. The PMR may in turn have supplied mines to others; it has allegedly provided support to Abkhazia against Georgia, and the Krajina Serbs against Croatia.⁽⁸⁹¹⁾

Stockpiling

According to the government, Moldova's national army has approximately 12,000 mines.⁽⁸⁹²⁾ The number of mines in the PMR stockpile is unknown, but likely in the thousands. Types of antipersonnel mines thought to be in Moldovan/Transdniester arsenals include: PMN, PMN-2, PMN-4, OZM-72, MON-50, MON-90, MON-100, MON-200, KSF-ls, PFM-ls, and POM-2s.⁽⁸⁹³⁾

Mines are also in the hands of criminals. In 1998, grenades and mines were used in twenty-five cases of burglary or other crimes.⁽⁸⁹⁴⁾

The Russian 14th Army has destroyed obsolete munitions located in its stockpiles in the Transdniester region. In November 1995, the Army destroyed eighty landmines manufactured between 1941 and 1945, and planned to destroy another 400 tons of old mines and shells.⁽⁸⁹⁵⁾ In 1996, over 4,500 mines and missiles made between 1937 and 1941 were destroyed in Transdniester. The administration in Tiraspol (Transdniester) has protested continuing this destruction because of the ecological damage.⁽⁸⁹⁶⁾ The Russian Army's arsenal at Kolbasna, one of the largest in Europe,⁽⁸⁹⁷⁾ may have 100,000 tons of mines, artillery shells, rockets, and grenades of WWII vintage, many of which are stored in easily accessible areas.⁽⁸⁹⁸⁾ Russian troops have made plans to ship some of the weapons to Russia, although both Moldova and Transdniester want the weapons to remain.

Mine Clearance

According to a 1994 U.S. State Department report, a tripartite control commission, consisting of Russia, Moldova, and the Transdniester, began to demine the conflict zone, with hopes of completing clearance operations by the end of 1994.⁽⁸⁹⁹⁾ This did not happen, but the current status is unclear. In May 1998, the Foreign Ministry said that, of the 72 kilometers of land affected by mines, all but 15 kilometers have been cleared.⁽⁹⁰⁰⁾ In January 1999 a Moldovan Foreign Ministry spokesman said that eighty hectares of Moldova are strewn with mines, and another seventy need to be checked.⁽⁹⁰¹⁾ In 1994, the U.S. State Department estimated 200 hectares were mine infested.⁽⁹⁰²⁾ Another source states that Transdniester has cleared 34% of its landmines.⁽⁹⁰³⁾ The U.S. has offered to help Moldova clear its remaining minefields. In January 1999, U.S. officials met with Moldovan officials to discuss the removal of weapons from Transdniester and mine clearance.

Landmine Casualties

According to the Moldovan Foreign Ministry, during 1992 and 1993, two Moldovan peacekeepers were killed and eight injured, one Russian peacekeeper was wounded, and one Transdniestrian peacekeeper was killed and six wounded by landmines. Four civilians were killed and ten injured.⁽⁹⁰⁴⁾ In December 1994, the U.S. reported that mines had killed four and wounded over 50 in the past year.⁽⁹⁰⁵⁾ There is no information available about special assistance provided to landmine survivors.

THE NETHERLANDS

Mine Ban Policy

In part, frustrated by the lack of progress in the negotiations on the Landmines Protocol of the 1980 Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) during the 1995-96 Review Conference, the Netherlands was one of the first countries to opt for a fast track procedure to ban antipersonnel mines (APMs). Growing pressure from Parliament and the Dutch public, which had been strongly influenced by the Dutch Campaign to Ban Landmines (an NGO coalition including Pax Christi Netherlands, MSF-Netherlands, Dutch Interchurch Aid and Novib), led to the change in the official Dutch position. But this change in policy did not happen overnight.

A 25 August 1995 letter to Parliament on landmines from the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Defense and for Development Cooperation, just before the opening session of the Review Conference, outlined the government's view at that time. The Ministers explained that a comprehensive ban on landmines might be achieved in the long term, but doubted its feasibility given the lack of international support for a ban; they also noted that there was still a military justifiable need for antipersonnel mines.⁽⁹⁰⁶⁾ But public pressure resulted in the Minister of Defense ordering a review of the Dutch army's need of APMs in December 1995. This review led to the decision by the government to ban the use and the possession of APMs within the Dutch army in March 1996 with broad Parliamentary approval.⁽⁹⁰⁷⁾ Thus the Netherlands became one of the first countries to give up the weapon and became a leader in the global ban movement.

In June 1996, the Dutch government expressed its great disappointment about the outcome of the CCW Review Conference,⁽⁹⁰⁸⁾ and noted, therefore, its decision accept the invitation of the Canadian government to participate in an October 1996 conference Ottawa to develop a strategy to ban APMs. At the same time it pleaded for a ban within the European Union and NATO. The Netherlands became a strongly pro-ban country and a member of the core group of countries that worked together to ensure the success of the Ottawa Process.

On 3 December 1997 the Netherlands signed the Mine Ban Treaty in Ottawa. Ratification, however, has not gone as smoothly as had been hoped. A lengthy procedure in the Netherlands, it involves the other members of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (i.e. the constitutional relationship between The Netherlands and the Dutch Antilles), the State Council (Raad van State), the Lower House, the Senate and the Queen (royal assent).⁽⁹⁰⁹⁾ The Lower House approved the Ottawa Treaty on 11 February 1999.⁽⁹¹⁰⁾ The Senate approved on 23 March 1999. It is hoped that the instruments of ratification will be deposited at the United Nations before the First Meeting of States Parties in Maputo.

Domestic implementation legislation is already being prepared and will be considered as soon as the instruments of ratification have been deposited at the United Nations. The new bill will be sent to Parliament by the Minister of Justice. Still in the drafting stage, it will be discussed soon in the Kingdom's Cabinet, which includes representatives of the Dutch Antilles.⁽⁹¹¹⁾

The Netherlands is a state party to the CCW; revised Protocol II of the CCW was approved on 17 November 1998 in the Lower House,⁽⁹¹²⁾ and on 2 February 1999 by the Senate.⁽⁹¹³⁾ At the Review Conference of the CCW the Netherlands actively worked to include export limitations on landmines.⁽⁹¹⁴⁾ Article 8 of revised Protcol II explicitly bans exports of non-self-destruct and non-detectable landmines. It also bans APM exports to states which are not party to the CCW and to non-state actors.

Production

After World War II the Netherlands developed its own arms industry to lessen the dependency of the Dutch army on weapons imports. Various ammunition factories produced landmines, including APMs, and the greater part of Dutch stocks of landmines was produced domestically. One of the main producers of landmines was Eurometaal, one-third of which is owned by the Dutch government.⁽⁹¹⁵⁾ According to a spokesperson of the Ministry of Defence, production of landmines stopped twenty years ago.⁽⁹¹⁶⁾ Three types of mines were produced: the Model AP 23 bounding mine, Model AP 22 ("Inkstand") non-metallic blast mine, and Model 15 non-metallic, blast (box) mine.⁽⁹¹⁷⁾

Alternatives and Claymores

For the years 2000-2002 an amount of Dfl 21 million is planned for the acquisition of alternatives for APMs.⁽⁹¹⁸⁾ The Defense Department is considering importing Claymore munitions and scatterable antitank mines with anti-handling devices. MoD intends to use the Claymore as a command-detonated weapon only.⁽⁹¹⁹⁾ There are no tripwires in stock anymore for existing Claymores.

Transfer

While there are no known instances of Dutch exports of AP mines, some assume that it exported APMs in the past.⁽⁹²⁰⁾ Until the beginning of the 1990s, the Netherlands tried to sell its surplus landmines; it is not clear if they were successful. In September 1993 the Netherlands instituted a moratorium on the export of landmines to states which were not party to the 1980 Convention on Conventional Weapons. This moratorium corresponded with the moratorium of the European Union which entered into force in May 1995.⁽⁹²¹⁾

More recently, some transfers of APMs to Germany for the sole purpose of destruction have taken place. (see stockpile section).

The Netherlands has imported mines from the United States, Germany, and perhaps other nations. The U.S. shipped 630 M18A1 Claymore mines in 1984-1986, and 5,984 Gator AP mines in 1991 in a $14.58 million deal.⁽⁹²²⁾ The Gator is an air-delivered, self-destructing AP mine that is packaged with antitank mines in a cluster bomb unit (CBU-89). The government has indicated that it is "technically feasible and operationally sensible" to remove all APMs from the Gator system and replace them with antitank mines. The modification will cost approximately US$10 million and is planned for the period 2000-2002.Until the removal of APMs is completed, it will be forbidden to use the Gator system. In March 1996, the Minister of Defense placed a moratorium on Air Force use of Gator mine systems, so long as they contain APMs.⁽⁹²³⁾

It is a matter of principle for the Dutch government that states party to the Mine Ban Treaty cannot be forced to violate its obligations by its allies. Negotiations have therefore started within NATO on this subject, since the United States of America and Turkey have not signed the Mine Ban Treaty. The American military bases in the Netherlands, however, have no munition stockpiles. In November 1998 the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Van Aartsen, discussed these issues with Secretary of State Albright.⁽⁹²⁴⁾

Stockpiling

The first step in the destruction of Dutch stocks of 264,500 antipersonnel mines was taken in 1994. On 30 November 1994 during parliamentary debate on the defense budget, the Minister of Defense acceded to the requests of the two main parties in Parliament, after pressure from the Dutch Campaign to Ban Landmines, and promised to start research into the safe and efficient destruction of landmine stocks.⁽⁹²⁵⁾ In 1997 the Minister of Defense told Parliament that 440,000 landmines would be destroyed, of which 264,500 were APMs.⁽⁹²⁶⁾ A total of 209,500 Model AP 22 mines were destroyed in June 1997. These mines were destroyed together with Belgian mines to share costs. The actual destruction by incineration of these mines took place in a factory of the company Buck in Germany at a cost of Dfl 628,500 (US$314,000).

In 1998 a French company, AF Demil, destroyed another 45,000 Model AP 23 antipersonnel mines and 155,000 antitank mines. AF Demil destroyed these APMs by separating the explosives and the metals. The metals have been recycled. Total cost was Dfl 2,970,000 (US$1.5 million). Reportedly, the Netherlands sent 60,000 DM 31 antitank mines to Bofors, which sold 12,000 to Canada and destroyed the remaining Dutch mines at no cost.

The Dutch military will retain around 5,000 APMs for training purposes (deminers training) and for testing purposes (development of new demining techniques). The rest of the Dutch stocks of antitank mines will be destroyed when new ATMs have been acquired.⁽⁹²⁷⁾

Use

There has been no evidence of use of APMs in the Netherlands since the March 1996 ban except for training humanitarian deminers of the Dutch army. In 1997 a research project was started to develop new demining techniques, financed by the Ministry of Defense and the Development Cooperation Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In this project APMs are used for testing new techniques.⁽⁹²⁸⁾

Mine Action Funding

The Netherlands has contributed considerable resources to mine action programs over the last three years. Between 1996-1998, approximately US$30.2 million was spent: in 1996 around $10.7 million, in 1997 about $10.2 million, and in 1998 approximately $9.3 million. During this period approximately $14 million was spent on UN/Mine Action Centers and around $14.1 million to support NGO programs. The Dutch government contributed to mine action in the following countries (figures are approximate US dollars):⁽⁹²⁹⁾

Angola: $8.9 million (1996-98; contribution to NGOs);

Cambodia: $7.5 million (1996-98; CMAC);

Afghanistan: $4.8 million (1996-98; UNOCHA, the Mine Action Center in Afghanistan);

Mozambique: $3.9 million (1996-98; NGOs).

Bosnia: $1.8 million (1996-98: Mine Action Center);

Iraq: $0.3 million (1996-97; NGOs);

Laos: $0.3 million (1997-98; NGOs).

There is no breakdown of how funding is allocated between demining, mines awareness programs or victim assistance. The Dutch government believes that these programs should be integrated in overall mine action and can not be separated. The Netherlands, therefore, asks the UN to coordinate its appeals in such a way that mine action includes the three areas: demining, mine awareness and victim assistance.

Besides financial contributions to mine action by NGOs and UN/Mine Action Centers, the Netherlands also has made in-kind contributions. The Dutch army has a total of 80 humanitarian deminers available for mine action in the framework of UN operations. Currently, there is one Dutch deminer at CMAC in Cambodia. In 1997, there were eight deminers in Angola, and two in 1998; who did not return after Christmas leave in December 1998 with the renewal of the war between UNITA and the government of Angola. Two deminers are currently in Bosnia. Last year there were 12 deminers over a six-month period in Bosnia. All work as instructors. ⁽⁹³⁰⁾

In 1997 a research project was started to develop new demining techniques. The Ministry of Defense and the Development Cooperation Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have supported this effort with funding of approximately US$10 million. Called "HOM 2000," the project is being developed by TNO, a large technical research bureau. In the year 2000 it hopes to present a prototype of a new technique to detect APMs.

Finally, at request of the Parliament, which passed a motion on this point, the government is considering organizing a seminar with other countries working on developing new techniques to exchange ideas and to prevent errors and duplication of effort.⁽⁹³¹⁾

POLAND

Mine Ban Policy

Poland signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 December 1997 but has yet to ratify it, and has indicated it may not ratify in the foreseeable future. Poland was slow to embrace the Ottawa Process and the ban treaty, even though it attended all the treaty preparatory meetings and came to the Oslo negotiations as a full participant. It also voted for the pro-ban UN General Assembly resolution in 1996, and the pro-treaty UNGA resolutions in 1997 and 1998.

But, at the Seminar on Antipersonnel Mines (focused on Central Europe and Baltic countries) held in Stockholm, Sweden on 23-25 May 1997, the representative from the Polish government made it clear that Poland was not prepared to sign the treaty. Poland also initially decided against endorsing the key pro-treaty Brussels Declaration in June 1997. Then, Poland was one of a handful of countries that took part in the Oslo negotiations as full participants (not observers) that signaled at the end of the conference they might not sign the Mine Ban Treaty.

As a Foreign Ministry official later explained at the Regional Conference on Landmines in Budapest, Hungary on 26-28 March 1998, Poland signed the Mine Ban Treaty with some reluctance, due to its conviction that "to be effective, such as ban should be universal." He said, "We will be able to do it [implement the treaty] when we see it becoming truly universal with the participation of all major powers as well as the countries of our region."⁽⁹³²⁾ He stated that Poland would not put the treaty into practice while it continues to have reservations about NATO implications and concerns about financial resources necessary to destroy stockpiles. He also indicated Poland will have to find an alternative to AP mines first.⁽⁹³³⁾

Poland has made clear that it views the Conference on Disarmament as the appropriate forum for dealing with landmines. It has supported negotiations on AP mines in the CD since 1996, and was one of the 22 CD members that in February 1999 jointly called for the appointment of a Special Coordinator on antipersonnel mines, and the establishment of an Ad Hoc Committee to negotiate a ban on antipersonnel mine transfers.⁽⁹³⁴⁾ Poland is also a state party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (2 June 1983), but has not ratified its amended 1996 Protocol II on mines.

Production, Transfer, and Stockpiling

Poland has produced at least one type of antipersonnel landmine, the PSM-1,⁽⁹³⁵⁾ and has acknowledged that it used to export AP mines. Poland informed the UN in June 1995 that "the production of antipersonnel landmines in Poland was abandoned in the mid-1980s and the export of those mines has ceased de facto following the adoption of [UNGA 16 December 1993] resolution 48/75K."⁽⁹³⁶⁾ Soon thereafter, Poland adopted a formal moratorium on the export of mines that do not self-destruct or are not detectable, effective until 1998. It was later made into a comprehensive moratorium of indefinite length.⁽⁹³⁷⁾ The size and composition of Poland's AP mine stockpile is unknown, but can be assumed to be large since Poland has expressed concerns about the cost of destruction. No destruction has yet occurred.

Humanitarian Mine Action

The government has reported that Poland is not mine affected--post-World War II mine clearance was completed in the 1950s--but there is still a problem with unexploded ordnance.⁽⁹³⁸⁾ Past reports have noted the presence of unexploded ordnance, including landmines, on former Soviet bases. The Polish military has a relatively advanced mine clearing capability.⁽⁹³⁹⁾

Poland has provided expert assistance and training to demining operations in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Lebanon, and also has provided rehabilitation assistance for mine victims. The Polish Red Cross has announced that it is prepared to participate in international efforts related to demining and mine victim rehabilitation, but requires outside funding.⁽⁹⁴⁰⁾

ROMANIA

Mine Ban Policy

Romania signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997. The statement of the Romanian delegation at the signing ceremony emphasized the need for "financial solidarity for those countries committed to the Convention but which require assistance to fulfill their obligations."⁽⁹⁴¹⁾ Romania had not ratified the treaty.

Romania did not decide to sign the treaty until very late in the Ottawa Process. Romania attended all the treaty preparatory meetings, but did not endorse the pro-treaty Brussels Declaration in June 1997, and participated in the Oslo negotiations only as an observer. However, Romania had voted in favor of the 1996 United Nations General Assembly resolution urging states to pursue vigorously an international agreement banning antipersonnel mines, and also supported the pro-Mine Ban Treaty UNGA resolution in late 1997. An official from Romania's Ministry for Foreign Affairs attended the Regional Conference on Landmines in Budapest, Hungary on 26-28 March 1998, where he stated that Romania had started the ratification process.⁽⁹⁴²⁾ Romania voted for the 1998 UNGA resolution in support of the Mine Ban Treaty.

Romania is a state party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (as of 26 July 1995), but has not ratified 1996 amended Protocol II on mines. Romania is a member of the Conference on Disarmament and has expressed support for efforts to achieve a ban in that forum, provided these efforts complement the existing Mine Ban Treaty.⁽⁹⁴³⁾ In February 1999, Romania was one of 22 countries that endorsed a statement advocating the negotiation of a ban on transfers of antipersonnel landmines through the CD.⁽⁹⁴⁴⁾

Production, Transfer, and Stockpiling

Romanian state factories have produced seven types of antipersonnel landmines: the MAI 2 stake fragmentation mine, the MAI 68 blast mine, the MAI 75 blast mine, the MAI-GR 1 blast mine, the MAI-GR 2 blast mine, the MAIGA-4 directional fragmentation mine, and the MSS bounding mine.⁽⁹⁴⁵⁾ Romania has also been a landmine exporter; its mines reportedly have been used in the conflict in Iraqi Kurdistan.⁽⁹⁴⁶⁾ On 1 July 1995, Romania declared a one-year moratorium on the export of all landmines, and later extended it until 2000.⁽⁹⁴⁷⁾ The size of Romania's current stockpile is unknown, but is thought to be substantial.⁽⁹⁴⁸⁾ At the Regional Landmine Conference in Hungary in March 1998, the Romanian representative stated that Romania requires assistance with destruction of stockpiles.⁽⁹⁴⁹⁾

Humanitarian Mine Action

Romania is not mine affected.⁽⁹⁵⁰⁾ As part of its contribution to United Nations peacekeeping efforts in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Romania has deployed an engineering battalion with a demining unit. Romania has also participated in mine clearance efforts and donated medical equipment, including a radiological laboratory and a mobile medical unit, to Angola.⁽⁹⁵¹⁾

UKRAINE

Mine Ban Policy

Ukraine signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 24 February 1999 but has not ratified it yet. It attended the early treaty preparatory meetings, but did not endorse the pro-ban treaty Brussels Declaration in June 1997. It attended the treaty negotiations in Oslo and the treaty signing conference in Ottawa, but only as an observer in each case. However, Ukraine voted in favor of the pro-ban 1996, 1997, and 1998 UN General Assembly resolutions.

Ukraine's somewhat mixed record in support of a ban reflected the desires of many in the Foreign Ministry to embrace it as a humanitarian and disarmament issue, and the desires of many in the Defense Ministry to hold onto what was regarded as a useful weapon. Perhaps the key stumbling block in signing the treaty, though, was concern about Ukraine's ability to afford the costs of destroying its significant mine stockpile within four years, as required by the treaty.

After months of diplomatic and technical discussions, on 27 January 1999, an agreement between Canada and Ukraine about cooperation in destruction of Ukraine's landmine stockpiles was signed. On the same day, President Leonid Kuchma declared that Ukraine would join the Mine Ban Treaty.

On 24 February 1999, the Ambassador of Ukraine to Canada signed the treaty at the United Nations. In a press release, the Ukrainian government stated: "The decision of the Government of Ukraine to sign this international document...was also made possible due to the agreement reached by the Ukrainian and Canadian sides during a recent visit to Ukraine by Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien in January 1999 and reflected in the Memorandum on cooperation between the two Governments towards destruction of anti-personnel landmine stockpiles in Ukraine. Canada took the obligation to assist Ukraine in destroying the [10 million] landmines inherited by it with the collapse of the former Soviet Union. Ukraine began to get rid of the mines in December 1997, even as the Convention was opened for signing at an international conference in Ottawa."⁽⁹⁵²⁾

Ukraine is a state party to the 1980 Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and its Protocol II on landmines, but it has not yet ratified the amended Protocol II (1996). At the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) regional conference in Budapest in March 1998, the Ukrainian representative stated that "Ukraine adheres to the amended Protocol II of the CCW and hopes to ratify it soon."⁽⁹⁵³⁾

Ukraine is also a member of the Conference on Disarmament. It was one of the 22 CD members that in February 1999 jointly called for the appointment of a Special Coordinator on antipersonnel mines, and the establishment of an Ad Hoc Committee to negotiate a transfer ban.⁽⁹⁵⁴⁾

Production

The Ukraine government states that it does not manufacture landmines and has not since independence. At the Mine Ban Treaty signing conference, Ukraine's Ambassador to Canada Volodymyr Furkalo said, "It is a know fact that we do not produce these weapons."⁽⁹⁵⁵⁾ During the time of the Soviet Union, Ukraine produced components for Soviet landmines. At the ICBL Budapest conference in March 1998, the Ukrainian representative stated, "Ukraine denies that it currently produces antipersonnel mines but acknowledges that it inherited landmines left by the collapse of the Soviet Union."⁽⁹⁵⁶⁾

Some sources, perhaps most notably the U.S. State Department in 1993, have identified Ukraine as an antipersonnel mine producer.⁽⁹⁵⁷⁾

Transfer

The same U.S. State Department communique identified Ukraine as an exporter of antipersonnel mines, though Landmine Monitor is unaware of any documented cases of transfer since independence.⁽⁹⁵⁸⁾

Ukraine enacted a moratorium on the export of antipersonnel mines from August 1995 to September 1999.⁽⁹⁵⁹⁾

It is not believed that Ukraine has imported AP mines, since it inherited such large stocks from the USSR.

Stockpiling

Ukraine has approximately 10.1 million AP mines in its stockpiles,⁽⁹⁶⁰⁾ inherited after the disintegration of the Soviet Union. Weapons, including landmines, had been stored at the Kiev, Odessa and Prikarpatskiy Military Districts. Under the January 1999 agreement, Canada will be providing financial and technical support for destruction; announcement of a destruction plan is expected in 1999. The following types of AP mines have been reported in the Ukrainian stockpile: PMN, PMN-2, PMN-4, OZM-72, MON-50, MON-90, MON-100, MON-200, KSF-l cluster bomb with PFM-1 AP mines, KPOM-2 cluster bomb with POM-2 AP mines, PFM-ls, and the POM-2.⁽⁹⁶¹⁾

At the signing ceremonies of the Mine Ban Treaty in Ottawa, the Ukrainian Ambassador to Canada stated: "Today we would welcome any assistance by the State-Parties under Article 6 of the Convention to help destroy our stockpiled landmines."⁽⁹⁶²⁾

In March 1998, Ukraine destroyed 101,028 PFM-1 landmines. On March 18 the first batch of old antipersonnel mines from the Ukrainian Army arsenals was destroyed on the proving ground near Kiev.⁽⁹⁶³⁾

Use

The Ukraine Ministry of Defense states that AP mines have not been used on Ukrainian territory since WWII.

Mine Clearance and Mine Awareness

Ukraine is mine affected because of World War II mines and unexploded ordnance, which are generally located in unpopulated areas. The number of mines and UXO left in Ukraine from the war is estimated at 1 million.⁽⁹⁶⁴⁾ Some 3 million mines and UXO have already been cleared since World War II. The most heavily mined areas are reported to be Vinnitsa, Ternopol, Zhitomir, Dnepropetrovsk, Kiev, Odessa, Sevastopol, Kerch, and Kharkov.⁽⁹⁶⁵⁾

The demining of Ukrainian territory is carried out by the Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Emergency Situations, and Ministry of Interior's Special Police Demining Teams ( SPDT) of the Bombs Disposal Division. The National Guard and Secret Service of Ukraine also have demining units.⁽⁹⁶⁶⁾

For clearance purposes, Ukrainian territory is divided into 497 areas of responsibility; of these, the Ministry of Defense is responsible for demining 442 areas, and the Ministry of Emergency Situations is responsible for demining in the remaining fifty-five areas.⁽⁹⁶⁷⁾

The Ministry of Defense reports that it cleared 11,818 mines and UXOs were cleared in 1992; 22,533 in 1993; 29,062 in 1994; 26,034 in 1995; 10,420 in 1996; 13,234 in 1997; and 9,539 in 1998.⁽⁹⁶⁸⁾

The Ministry of Interior's Special Police Demining Teams were created in 1995, and are made up of former military and militia personnel. The SPDTs work in the most densely populated areas of Ukraine. They cleared 11,400 UXOs in 1997 and 13,300 UXOs in 1998.⁽⁹⁶⁹⁾

Exact statistics on clearance by the Ministry of Emergency Situations and other demining units are not available, but MES collects some 3-4,000 mines and UXO each year.

The National Guard and Secret Service of Ukraine also have demining units.

The Ukrainian military, engineering units included, takes an active part in peacekeeping missions. There were Ukrainian engineer companies in the UNPROFOR mission in the former Yugoslavia. Ukrainian deminers conducted demining in Bosnia (Sarajevo, Gorazde, Zepa, Mostar) and Croatia (Topysko, Glina, Petrinja, Zirovac). In 1996, Ukraine participated in the peacekeeping mission in Angola, UNAVEM, and participated in mine clearance operations there.

There are no systematic mine awareness programs in Ukraine. During mine clearance operations, deminers meet with the local population and educate them on the rules of behavior when they come across a UXO.

Landmine Casualties

More than 1,500 civilians have been killed in Ukraine between 1945 and 1995 in mine accidents. One hundred and thirty deminers have been killed during clearance operations.⁽⁹⁷⁰⁾

In the Ministry of Defense's areas of responsibility, there were sixteen mine accidents in 1997 which left seven people dead (five of whom were children), and thirty people were injured. In 1998, there were four mine accidents leaving five people dead (four children) and three people (one child) injured.⁽⁹⁷¹⁾ In the SPDT's areas of responsibility, there were twenty-nine people killed and ninety-one people injured in 1997, and twenty-one people killed and seventy-one injured in 1998.⁽⁹⁷²⁾

During the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan (1979-1989), an estimated 18% of all casualties were due to landmines. Of the 150,000 Ukrainians who fought in Afghanistan. 3,360 Ukrainians were killed, and every sixth death was as a result of mine explosion.⁽⁹⁷³⁾

Landmine Survivor Assistance

The main institution for assistance to mine victims is the Social Rehabilitation Centre in Kiev. It provides artificial upper and lower limb orthopaedic goods, and works in close contact with the Otto Bock company in Germany.

There are laws in Ukraine providing measures on social rehabilitation of disabled people. For instance, more than 14 million people are entitled to a discount on their accommodation, electricity, and gas. Such people are also entitled to use all kind of city transport (except taxis) free of charge, and to pay half-price for a once-a-year trip throughout Ukraine for themselves and their families. Disabled may also be provided with free medical treatment at Ukrainian sanatoriums and resorts, and receive free dental treatment and prosthetic appliances. Some categories of disabled are provided with cars for free.

In addition to various legislative acts and state institutions, there is a ministry directly responsible for the social rehabilitation of the disabled: the Ministry of Labour and Social Rehabilitation. The Ministry owns fourteen plants and factories which produce prosthetic appliances. But in 1998, the state debt to these factories was 13 million hryvnas. Lack of money threatens the factories' ability to continue production. There are currently 800,000 people needing prosthetics. Due to the serious financial and economic problems of the country, there are budget cuts for social needs. In 1998, only 43% of the budget appropriated for the national program on rehabilitation of disabled was actually spent.

700. Hansard, 20 October 1998, col. 1067.

701. Paul Bowers and Tom Dodd, Antipersonnel mines and the policies of two British Governments, (RUSI Journal, February 1998).

702. Hansard, 3 March 1998.

703. Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund Press Release, 12 January 1999.

704. Hansard, 28 April 1998, cols. 64-65.

705. Hansard, 28 April 1998, cols. 64-65.

706. The Independent, 30 March 1998.

707. U.S. Department of Defense, "Mine Facts" CD Rom.

708. Interview with Colonel Lulzim Salillari, Director of Engineering Directory in the Ministry of Defense.

709. Statement by Mr. Agim Pasholli, Director of Multilateral Initiatives and UN Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to the Budapest Regional Conference on Antipersonnel Landmines, 26-28 March 1998.

710. Interview with Colonel Lulzim Salillari.

711. Interviews with, among others, two former Defense Ministers - Alfred Moisiu and Major General Mendu Backa; a number of former directors of the Engineering Directory of the Ministry of Defense including Colonel Ramiz Fiyori, Colonel Xhavit Cela, Colonel Mevlud Zazo, Major General Juan Hoxha; and two EOD specialists from the Albanian Army, Major Ismet Miftari and Captain Arben Braho. Also the primary researcher of this country report, a former high-ranking engineering officer who used to deal with mine issues for many years, confirms past production in Albania.

712. Interview with Colonel Xhavit Cela (retired), Director of Engineering Directory in the Ministry of Defense (1987-1990).

713. Interview with Colonel Qemal Mehmeti, Director of Engineering Directory in the Ministry of Defense (1996-1997), currently Adviser to the Minister of Defense; interview with Colonel Lulzim Salillari, Director of Engineering Directory in the Ministry of Defense since 1997; interview with Major Ismet Miftari, Chief of EOD of Albanian Army.

714. Interview with Colonel Xhavit Cela.

715. National Conference, "On Hot Spots," organized by the Ministry of Defense, July 1998.

716. Interview with Major Ismet Miftari, Chief of EOD of Albanian Army.

717. Ibid.

718. Colonel Lulzim Salillari, Director of Engineering Directory in the Ministry of Defense.

719. Interview with Major General Mendu Backa, (retired), Former Minister of Defense (1975-82), Director of Engineering Directory in the Ministry of Defense (1960-1975).

720. International Conference: "Possible alternatives and the ways for the collection of arms in Albania," organized by the Albanian Atlantic Association, 24-25 October 1998. (Sponsors included OSCE, the Norwegian government, the Canadian Embassy in Budapest and UNDP. AAA also cooperated with the Council of Ministers and the Ministry of Public Order.)

721. Interview with Colonel Qemal Mehmeti.

722. Interview with Colonel Lulzim Salillari.

723. Ibid.

724. International Conference, "Possible Alternatives and the Ways for the Collection of Arms in Albania," organized by Albanian Atlantic Association, 24-25 October 1998. (Sponsors included OSCE, the Norwegian Government, the Canadian Embassy in Budapest and UNDP. AAA also cooperated with the Council of Ministers and the Ministry of Public Order.)

725. Ibid.

726. Interview with Colonel Lulzim Salillari.

727. Interview with Major Ismet Miftari, Chief of EOD of Albanian Army.

728. Ibid; also interview with Major Ismet Miftari.

729. One such case was on 4 February 1989 in the town of Durrÿsi where two 13-year old children were killed by a German mine (Teleminen).

730. Surveys for landmine survivors (partially completed) in Tirana, Shkodyr, Lezhy, Krujy, Durrys, Vlory, Gjirokastyr.

731. Statement by H.E. Mr. Alecos Shambos, Ambassador, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus at the Signing Ceremony, Ottawa, 2-4 December 1997.

732. Human Rights Watch interview with Mr. Demetris Hadjiargyrou, Second Secretary, Permanent Mission of Cyprus to the United Nations, 19 March 1999.

733. Letter from U.S. Army Foreign Science and Technology Center to Human Rights Watch, 1 November 1993, p. 1; U.S. Department of State, Outgoing Telegram, Unclassified, Subject: landmine export moratorium demarche, 7 December 1993; Human Rights Watch Fact Sheet, Antipersonnel Landmine Producers, April 1996. One Army database lists a Cypriot BPD SB-33 antipersonnel mine.

734. Information provided by United Nations sources, August 1998.

735. United States Department of State, Hidden Killers: The Global Problem with Uncleared Landmines, 1993, p. 78.

736. Information provided by United Nations sources, August 1998.

737. Information provided by United Nations sources, August 1998. Also, Country Profiles, United Nations Demining Database, http:www.un.org.Depts/Landmine/index.html (Ref. 3/19/99).

738. Ibid.

739. United States Department of State, Hidden Killers: The Global Landmine Crisis, 1998, Annex A-4.

740. Information provided by United Nations sources, August 1998.

741. Ibid.

742. Ibid.

743. Jean Khristou, "Cyprus Expects First Step from Turkey on Mine Clearance," Nicosia Cyprus Mail (Internet Version), 4 March 1999.

744. Information provided by United Nations sources, August 1998.

745. Hidden Killers, 1993, p. 78.

746. "Canadian FM Expresses Support for UN Resolutions on Cyprus," Athens News Agency Daily News Bulletin, 28 December 1998.

747. Amb. Shambos statement, Ottawa, 2-4 December 1997.

748. "Denktash Says Ready for Cyprus Landmine Clearance," Reuters News Service, 12 June 1998.

749. Statement at Budapest Conference by Dr. Miroslav Tuma, Deputy Director of the Department of UN Organizations for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Czech Republic.

750. Ibid.

751. This was confirmed to ICBL members during the negotiations on the CCW 1994-1996 by both Czech and Slovak officials.

752. U.S. Department of Defense, "Mine Facts" CD ROM.

753. Ibid.

754. Statement at Budapest Conference by Dr. Miroslav Tuma, 26-28 March 1998, p. 20.

755. Statement of Mr. Tuma to Budapest Conference, 26-28 March 1998.

756. Ibid, also, Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade's Mine Action Database.

757. Country Profiles, United Nations Demining Database, http:www.un.org.Depts/Landmine/index.html (Ref. 3/5/99).

758. Statement of Mr. Tuma to Budapest Conference, 26-28 March 1998.

759. United States Department of State, Hidden Killers: The Global Problem with Uncleared Landmines, September 1998, p. C-1, C-5.

760. Statement of Mr. Tuma to Budapest Conference, 26-28 March 1998.

761. Czech News Agency report, 7 January 1999. See also, Memorandum issued by Slovenian delegation to Ottawa conference, (undated) 3 December 1997.

762. Declaration of Embassy of the Hellenic Republic, Treaty Signing Ceremony, Ottawa, 3 December 1997.

763. Country Profiles, United Nations Demining Database, http:www.un.org.Depts/Landmine/index.html (Ref. 3/8/99).

764. Statement by Ambassador Petko Draganov, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Bulgaria to the United Nations Office and the other International Organisations in Geneva, (undated) February 1999.

765. U.S. Department of Defense, "Mine Facts" CD ROM.

766. U.S. Army, Armament, Munitions, and Chemical Command (USAMCCOM), Letter to Human Rights Watch, 25 August 1993, and attached statistical tables; U.S. Defense Security Assistance Agency, U.S. Landmine Sales By Country, March 1994.

767. A Greek journalist cited a figure of 1.5 million at a Medicins du Monde press conference in Athens, 18 September 1997, according to an email from Tim Carstairs, Mines Advisory Group (UK), 23 March 1999.

768. Country Profiles, United Nations Demining Database.

769. Ibid.

770. "Civil War Minefield to be Cleared," Athens News Agency Daily Bulletin, 14 January 1998.

771. U.S. Department of State, Hidden Killers: The Global Problem with Uncleared Landmines, July 1993, p. 95.

772. U.S. Department of State, Hidden Killers: The Global Landmine Crisis, September 1998, pp. C-1, C-3.

773. "Greece, Zimbabwe Sign Military Cooperation Accords," Xinhua News Agency Bulletin, 2 July 1998.

774. Country Profiles, United Nations Demining Database, http:www.un.org.Depts/Landmine/index.html (Ref. 3/12/99).

775. Statement by Mr. Helgi Agustsson, Permanent Under-Secretary, Head of Icelandic Delegation to Mine Ban Treaty Signing Ceremony, Ottawa, 3-4 December 1997.

776. United States Department of State, Hidden Killers, September 1998, pp. C-1, C-6.

777. The Arms Project of Human Rights Watch and Physicians for Human Rights, Landmines: A Deadly Legacy (New York: Human Rights Watch, October 1993), p. 36.

778. Dossier Provvedimento, Messa al Bando delle Mine Antipersona (AA.CC. 826, 1737,2290), n. 151, XIII Legislature, October 1996 (Camera dei Deputati, Servizio Studi); Dossier Provvedimento, Messa al Bando delle Mine Antipersona (AACC 826 e abb.-B), n. 151/4, XIII Legislature, October 1997 (Camera dei Deputati, Servizio Studi).

779. Statement by H.E. Mr. Lamberto Dini, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Italy to the Fifty-First Session of the General Assembly, New York, 26 September 1996. APM use was not banned until June 1997.

780. Ibid.

781. "To integrate the measures already adopted in terms of renouncing production and export of such weapons, and of starting their destruction, the Cabinet has agreed on the need to renounce completely the operational use of antipersonnel landmines. This decision, while responding to the strong call of national and international public opinion, has been adopted to help achieve a solid international understanding and a definite solution to the plight posed by antipersonnel landmines," Cabinet Communique, Rome, 13 June 1997.

782. Interview with Roberto Liotto, Direction of Political Affairs, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Rome, 26 January 1999.

783. Article 2 of the Law defines AP mine as "any munition or device that can be placed on, under, inside or near the ground or any surface area, and designed or adaptable - by means of specific mechanisms - so as to explode, cause an explosion or release incapacitating substances as a consequence of the presence, proximity or contact of a person."

784. Article 7 of Law 374/97 provides the sanctioning regime: "1.Whoever may use, with the exception of the provisions included in Article 5, Par. 1, manufacture, sell, transfer for whatever purpose, export, import, hold antipersonnel mines or their components, and whoever may use or transfer, directly or indirectly, patent rights, or relevant technologies for the manufacturing, in Italy or abroad, of antipersonnel mines and their components, will be punished with a 3 to 12 year imprisonment, and with a 500 million to 1,000 million lire fine." Paragraph 2) of the same article provides 3 to 6 years of imprisonment and a fine from 200 to 500 million lire for whoever violates the obligations concerning the disclosing and delivering of landmine stock to the Carabinieri, and the disclosing and delivering of antipersonnel mines patent rights and technologies to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

785. The establishment and mandate of a parliamentary committee for monitoring the bill was provided in Art. 10 of the original ban bill. Among other things, this parliamentary committee was allowed to summon experts to carry out the verification work, and this would have allowed civil society some important involvement in the monitoring of the implementation of the ban law. Unfortunately, in the course of the political debate in Parliament, this article was rejected. The ItCBL unsuccessfully advocated its reintroduction in the Mine Ban Treaty ratification bill.

786. Ministero degli Affari Esteri, "Address by the Minister of Foreign Affairs The Hon. Lamberto Dini at the Ottawa Conference for the Signing of the Convention on the Total Prohibition of Antipersonnel Mines," Ottawa, Canada, 3 December 1997, p. 3.

787. Due to the complexity of the issue, both the Italian Campaign to Ban Landmines and the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Chamber of Deputies have required technical assistance from legal experts, whose statements have been presented to the Parliament and annexed to the ratification dossier.

788. A parliamentary ratification bill had been presented one month earlier, on 14 May 1998, by Chair of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Chamber of Deputies Achille Occhetto. In the press communique released for the occasion, Occhetto openly criticised the delay of the government's initiative. "The decision to resort to the unusual.…procedure of the parliamentary initiative for the ratification of an international convention was made after several months waiting for the Government to present its ratification bill…. At the signing of the Convention, both Minister Dini and President Occhetto committed to being among the first countries to ratify in front of more than 100 States, the target being the enactment of the Convention by the end of the year. Hence, the need for us to ratify within the coming month of June," Foreign Affairs Commission, Comunicato Stampa, "Avviata con Iniziativa Parlamentare la Ratifica della Convenzione sulle Mine Antipersona," 14 May 1998.

789. Interview with Colonel Cornacchia, Staff Officer, Ministry of Defence, Rome, 11 November 1998.

790. Interview with Roberto Liotto, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Rome, 25 January 1999.

791. "Consistent with the targets set by the United Nations resolutions and by the EU, Italy will continue to actively work in the framework of the Geneva Disarmament Conference, and to follow the so called 'Ottawa Process' to ensure that - by means of these complementary actions carried out in both contexts - the international community may be provided with a mechanism of effective rules binding the greatest number of States," Government Press Communique, Rome, 13 June 1997.

792. "Italy considers that the whole complex issue of antipersonnel landmines, imposing a total ban on their production, destroying existing stockpiles, and verifying their destruction is essentially a disarmament problem ....This Conference has the experience, the facilities and the personnel to handle these negotiations. We also know that various political initiatives are being taken, whose aims we wholly endorse, and which are also designed to rapidly define an international agreement. But we maintain that for such an agreement to be credible it must attract the largest possible number of countries, and avoid setting up a narrowly based regime that excludes the most important countries", Ministero degli Affari Esteri, Address by H.E. Lamberto Dini, Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, to the opening session of the Conference on Disarmament, Geneva, 21 January 1997.

793. Interview with Roberto Liotto, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Rome, 29 January 1999.

794. Quaderni dell'Osservatorio Economico Fiom Cgil Brescia, Il settore armiero, Brescia, Fiom Cgil, 1991, p. 47.

795. Interview with Vito Alfieri Fontana, Rome, 23 February 1999.

796. Mauro Suttora, La Mina Sbagliata, Europeo, 5 September 1987. Suttora notes that to handle the contracts Valsella imported 573 metric tons of explosive material for landmines from the Swedish company Bofors, from November 1981 to December 1982.

797. Gaetano Agnini, written statement issued to Nicoletta Dentico and John Head, 19 February 1999.

798. Registry of Companies and Businesses, Singapore, http://wwwdb1. Gov.sg/reb, Department of Statistics, Singapore, Basic Data for the Index of Singapore Businesses, http://sgconnect.asia1.com.sg.

799. Ibid.

800. Francesco Terreri, Produzione, Commercio ed Uso delle Mine Terrestri: Il Ruolo dell'Italia, Edizioni Comune Aperto, Comune di Firenze, pp. 33-34.

801. Brescia Tribunal, Ufficio Istruzione, Procedimento Penale n. 928/89-B, interrogation of defendant Mario Fellani, 1 March 1988.

802. Istituto Affari Internazionali, L'Italia nella politica Internazionale 1980-81, Milano, Edizioni di Comunità, 1982, p. 206. The patent is also quoted in the Valsella 1980 stock-taking, relating the merger with Meccanotecnica.

803. Giancarlo Summa, Mina a scoppio ritardato, Il Mondo, 8 November 1993.

804. Ocse, Statistics of Foreign Trade, figures of the statistic position 951, Arms and Ammunitions, Italy.

805. Alberto Chiara, Io non sono un trafficante, interview with Alfieri Fontana, Famiglia Cristiana, n. 47, 27 November 1996.

806. Ibid.

807. Nicoletta Dentico, A Caccia di Farfalle in Afghanistan: interview with Sayed Aqa, Mani Tese, June 1994. Also, OSCAR Report, 9 November 1995, p. 7.

808. Letter dated 22 January 1998 from the Secretary-General addressed to the President of the Security Council, Annex: Addendum to the third report of the International Commission of Inquiry (Rwanda), United Nations, S/1998/63.

809. Frank Smyth, Soldi, Sangue e politica Internazionale, Internazionale, n. 27, 14 May 1994, article dervied from, The Arms Project of Human Rights Watch, Arming Rwanda: The Arms Trade and Human Rights Abuses in the Rwandan War, Vol. 6, Issue 1, January 1994.

810. Phone interview with Vito Alfieri Fontana, Trento, 24 and 28 January 1999.

811. Numerous sources were used to compile the data in the tables in this section. These include provincial and federal customs data, Jane's Yearbooks, Landmines: A Deadly Legacy, export authorization data, figures from the Ministry of Foreign Trade and various Italian journals. Details available upon request.

812. The figures quoted in this and the following tables are to be considered the equivalent in the current value: 1 USD = 1,700 It. lire

813. Alfieri Fontana, the owner of Tecnovar, denies this export figure, which was quoted in the Jane's annual reports: "Probably we are dealing here with a Valsella export referring to similar material."

814. In our previous tables concerning 1980 exports of landmines to Iraq, we had mentioned Misar as one of the companies involved. We have tentatively removed the name of Misar in this table, because according to Umberto Lucio Valentini, Misar's former marketing director, the company exported to Iraq "probably a few samples," and likely sea mines.

815. This figure was given by Umberto Lucio Valentini, who has also provided valuable information on the selling of the know-how concerning such AP mines as SB-33, SB-81, SY-AT to Spain, Greece and Portugal.

816. Both Valentini from Misar and Fontana from Tecnovar deny any landmine export to Iran, in contrast to the available figure of bank transfers from Iran to Bari and Brescia respectively, made in 1984, relating to that customs item. The issue evidently needs further explaining. According to Valentini, the transfers to Brescia could relate to export operations carried out by Breda Meccanica Bresciana.

817. Misar denies any export operation to Cyprus. According to Valentini, it could be instead an export operation carried out by Breda Meccanica Bresciana.

818. The source of this information is the Database Eurostat/Comext.

819. Ministero della Difesa, Gabinetto del Ministro, "Schema di decreto interministeriale concernente la disciplina della distruzione delle scorte di mine antipersona (articolo 6 della legge 29 ottobre 1997, n.374, recante norme per la messa al bando delle mine antipersona", 19 May 1998. The Ministries concerned are respectively: Ministry of Defense, Industry and Foreign Affairs.

820. Despite the fact that antitank mines equipped with anti-handling devices are listed among the items in the military stocks to be dismantled, the explanatory report does not count any numbers or types such landmines in the information released so far. It is likely that more details will appear in the following reports.

821. All the landmines collected at the appropriate local sites in accordance with the provisions of the national law were to be delivered to the Ministry of Defense, Deposito Munizioni at Noceto di Parma, by 18 June 1998. There is no official evidence, however, that such transfer has actually taken place. As the government report underlines, at the time of its writing it was possible to provide only an approximate estimation about the numbers in industrial stocks.

822. The existence of two million such 'buttons' was disclosed to the ItCBL for the first time by the owner of Tecnovar, Alfieri Fontana, during the Oslo Conference in September 1997. Immediately after the Oslo Conference, the rapporteur of the pro-ban law, Achille Occhetto, made this issue the subject of a parliamentary motion compelling the Government to identify and destroy these de facto antipersonnel devices.

823. Interview with Colonel Ruggeri, Segredifesa, Rome, 22 November 1999.

824. Ministero della Difesa, "Schema di decreto interministeriale concernente la disciplina della distruzione delle scorte di mine antipersona," explanatory report.

825. Information gathered from the Ministry of Defence's Secretary General Office.

826. Ministero della Difesa, "Schema di decreto interministeriale," explanatory report.

827. Article 5 , parag. 1 of Law 374/97.

828. Landmine Monitor interview with Major-General Francesco Giannatiempo, General Staff , Logistical Support Section, Tactical Mobility Office, Ministry of Defence, Rome, 13 January 1999.

829. Interview with Col. Fernando Termentini , Italian Army Engineering Officer, Rome, 15 January 1999.

830. Interview with Col. Fernando Termentini, Rome, 15 January 1999.; Also, Gianni Botondi and Fernando Termentini, Le mine antiuomo: come mitridatizzarle, Rivista Militare, n. 5, September-October 1997, p. 94.

831. Gianluca Scagnetti, Terrore cieco, Italiani, n.10, December 1997-January 1998, pp. 30-31.

832. For more details about "Operation Salam" in Pakistan, Ferdinando Termentini, Ufficiali Italiani del Genio in Pakistan, Rivista Militare, n. 3, March-April 1990.

833. Gianluca Scagnetti, Terrore Cieco, p. 31.

834. Andrea Nativi (edited by), Bosnia: l'Intervento Militare Italiano, (Publicazioni Rid), p. 201.

835. Gianluca Scagnetti, Terrore Cieco, p. 32.

836. Document dated 8 December 1997, Ministry of Physical Planning and Environment, Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

837. Interview with Gianfranco Mela, ABC head-office in Florence, 26 January 1999.

838. Intersos Report, L'impegno di Intersos contro le mine, issue n.11/12, April 1998, pp. 13-14.

839. Intersos Report, Intersos: Unità di sminamento umanitario, n.13/14 , November 1998, pp. 81-82.

840. Interview with Stefano Cabretta, Intersos, Rome, 12 January 1999.

841. UN General Assembly, "Report of the Secretary General: Assistance in Mine Clearance," A/53/496, 14 October 1998, p. 29.

842. Interview with Vincenzo Oddo, Development Cooperation Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Rome, 15 December 1998.

843. Interview with Leonardo Baroncelli, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Office IV, Development Cooperation Department, Rome, 25 January 1999. For further details about Italy's commitment, it is necessary to wait for the fiscal year 1998 final budget's approval.

844. The EU cofinancing of this project, amounting to 700 million lire (US$419,160) is aimed at granting access to the priority areas in the UILE Province. Another EU contribution, amounting to 700 million lire (US$419,160) as well, is targeted to orthopedic activities and social rehabilitation projects in the MENONGUE Province.

845. CIES Final Report dated February 1996, Resettlement and Socio-Economic Reconstruction in the District of Mossurize, Province of Manica.

846. Intersos Report, Burundi. Il Problema dei Rifugiati oltre frontiera e degli sfollati interni, Intersos report, n.11/12, April 1998, pp. 30-32.

847. ICRC, ICRC Physical Rehabilitation Programmes, March 1997.

848. Interview with Maria Letizia Zamparelli, Italian Red Cross, Rome, 25 January 1999.

849. For more details about Francesca Chemollo, Il cammino della solidarietà, Emira come Aladin, Il Gazzettino, n.223, 26 September 1995.

850. Country Profiles, United Nations Demining Database, http:www.un.org.Depts/Landmine/index.html (Ref. 3/12/99).

851. UN General Assembly, "Report of the Secretary-General: Assistance in Mine Clearance," A/53/496, 14 October 1998, p. 29.

852. Speech of Vladas Adamkus, President of Lithuania, to the Fifty-third Session of the UN General Assembly, September 1998.

853. Interview with Dainius Baublys, Lithuanian Foreign Ministry, Vilnius, 22 January 1999.

854. Telephone conversation and interview with Andrius Krivas, Lithuanian Ministry of Defense, Vilnius, 20 January 1999.

855. Ibid.

856. Ibid.

857. Interview with Andrius Krivas, 22 January 1999.

858. Interview with Dainius Baublys, 22 January 1999.

859. Ibid.

860. Ibid.

861. Interview with Andrius Krivas, 22 January 1999.

862. Interview with Dainius Baublys, 22 January 1999.

863. Ibid.

864. Minster of Foreign Affairs, Press Release, 25 April 1996.

865. Minister of Foreign Affairs, answer to parliamentary question, No. 504, 3 November 1998.

866. Parliamentarian question No. 504 from Mr. Emile Calmes, Member of the Chamber of Representatives, 22 September 1998

867. Minister of Foreign Affairs, answer to parliamentary question, No. 504, 3 November 1998.

868. Chamber of Representatives, Bill 4493, 22 November 1998.

869. Phone interview with an official from the Treaties Service, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 25 February 1999.

870. Motive statement of Bill No. 4493.

871. Bill No. 4493.

872. LM Researcher telephone interview with Lieutenant-Colonel Ries,, Deputy Chief of Staff, 22 March 1999.

873. Minister of Foreign Affairs, Press Release, 25 April 1996.

874. Answer to the Parliamentary Question N°504, by the Minister of Foreign Affairs., 9 November 1998.

875. Lieutenant-Colonel Ries,, 22 March 1999.

876. Ibid.

877. LM Researcher conversation with Claude Peffer, deminer, during the opening of an exhibition on "Children in Cambodia," 25 September 1997. This was confirmed by the Lieutenant-Colonel Ries, 22 March 1999.

878. Claude Peffer, Demining Service of the Luxembourg Army, "Antipersonnel landmines, a global flea," Presentation on the occasion of the opening of "Children in Cambodia," 25 September 1997.

879. Handicap International, management file for Laos.

880. UN General Assembly, "Report of the Secretary-General: Assistance in Mine Clearance," A/53/496, 14 October 1998, p. 29.

881. Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Development Cooperation Activity Report, 1997.

882. Country Profiles, United Nations Demining Database, http:www.un.org.Depts/Landmine/index.html

883. UN General Assembly, "Report of the Secretary-General: Assistance in Mine Clearance," A/53/496, 14 October 1998, p. 29.

884. Information for this section was taken from Dr. Trevor Waters, "Moldova: Continuing Recipe for Instability," Jane's Intelligence Review, 1 September 1996.

885. "Moldova: Sides Locked in Dispute over Russian Arsenal in Dnestr Region," BBC Monitoring International Reports, 31 January 1999.

886. Waters, "Moldova: Continuing Recipe for Instability."

887. "Moldova: Transdniester's Arsenals 'Largest in Europe,' Unguarded," FBIS, FBIS-UMA-99-033, 2 February 1999.

888. "OSCE Views Dniester Option," FBIS, FBIS-SOV-98-128, 8 May 1998.

889. "Moldova: Speranta Bloc Claims Dniester Produces, Exports Arms," FBIS, FBIS-TAC-98-064, 5 March 1998.

890. Ibid.

891. Ibid.

892. Vladimir Lupan, Foreign Ministry of Moldova, Statement made at the First International Conference on Landmines in Russia and the CIS, Moscow, 27-28 May 1998.

893. Ukrainian Peacekeepers Veterans Association, Annual Report 1998.

894. "Crime Rate Goes Down in Moldova," FBIS, FBIS-SOV-98-196, 14 July 1998.

895. "Moldova: 14th Army Destroying Obsolete Arms; Presidential Aide Baturin Inspecting," BBC Monitoring Service, 28 November 1995.

896. United Nations, Country Report: Moldova, at: www.un.org/Depts/Landmine/country/moldova.htm.

897. Waters, "Moldova: Continuing Recipe for Instability."

898. Yuri Selivanov, Vecheslav Arhipov, Stockpiles in Pridnestrovie, 23 February 1999.

899. U.S. State Department, Hidden Killers, December 1994, p. 25.

900. Lupan, Statement made at the First International Conference on Landmines in Russia and the CIS.

901. "Moldova: US Experts to Help Clear Minefields in Moldova," FBIS, FBIS-TAC-99-029, 29 January 1999.

902. U.S. State Department, Hidden Killers, December 1994, p. 25.

903. "Moldova: Transdniester's Arsenals 'Largest in Europe,' Unguarded."

904. Lupan, Statement made at the First International Conference on Landmines in Russia and the CIS.

905. U.S. State Department, Hidden Killers, December 1994, p. 25.

906. "Het Landmijnenprobleem (The Problem of Landmines)," letter of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Defense and for Development Cooperation, The Hague, 25 August 1995, 24 292, nr. 1.

907. "Afschaffing van anti-personeelsmijnen (Abolition of antipersonnel mines)," letter of the Minister of Defense to Parliament, The Hague, 25 August 1995, 24 292, nr. 1.

908. Letter of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defense, The Hague, 18 June 1996, 24 400 V, nr. 76.

909. Handelingen Tweede Kamer (Acts of Parliament, Lower House), The Hague, 12 November 1998, Twenty-fourth Session, p. 1573.

910. Handelingen Tweede Kamer (Acts of Parliament, Lower House), The Hague, 10 February 1999, Fifieth Session, pp. 3331-3341; 11 February1999, Fifty-first Session, p. 3369.

911. Handelingen Tweede Kamer (Acts of Parliament, Lower House), The Hague, 12 November 1998, Twenty-fourth Session, p. 1574; 10 February 1999, Fiftieth Session, p. 3337.

912. Handelingen Tweede Kamer (Acts of Parliament, Lower House), The Hague, 12 November 1998, Twenty-fourth Session, pp. 1565-1575; 17 November 1998, Twenty-fifth Session, p. 1594.

913. Handelingen Eerste Kamer (Acts of Parliament, Senate), The Hague, 02 February 1999, Eighteenth Session, pp. 639-642.

914. Letter to Parliament of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defense, The Hague, 18 June 1996, 24 400 V, nr. 76, p. 4.

915. Platform tegen Wapenhandel, "Nederlandse wapenhandel in de jaren '90 (Dutch Arms Trade in the Nineties)," Stichting Uitgeverij Papieren Tijger, 1998, p. 39.

916. Telephone conversation with a representative of the Ministry of Defense in January 1999.

917. Eddie Banks, Antipersonnel Mines: Recognizing and Disarming (London: Brassey's, 1997) pp. 161-163.

918. "Afschaffing van anti-personeelsmijnen (Abolition of antipersonnel mines)," letter of the Minister of Defense to Parliament, The Hague, 11 March 1996, nr. D 113/96/3834; Materieel Projektenoverzicht 1998, KL 13, KL 14, KL 15, Ministry of Defense, The Hague, 1997, Handelingen Tweede Kamer (Acts of Parliament, Lower House), The Hague, 10 February 1999, Fiftieth Session, pp. 3339-3340.

919. Letter of the Minister of Defense to Novib, The Hague, 5 December 1997, nr. D97003224, pp. 3-4.

920. Telephone conversations with a representative of the Ministry of Defense, Pieter van Rossem of Pax Christi Netherlands and Martin Broek of the Anti-Militaristic Research Collective (AMOK) in January 1999.

921. Letter of Mr. P. van den Ijssel, Head of the Non-nuclear Arms Control and Disarmament Section of the UN Political Affairs Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs 1995 to the Phnom Penh Landmines Conference, 6 July 1995, nr. DPV/NN-1381/95.

922. US Defense Security Assistance Agency, "Foreign Military Sales of Antipersonnel Mines, as of 8/11/93." See also, Human Rights Watch, Landmines: A Deadly Legacy, p. 73.

923. "The Netherlands and Landmines: Highlights of recent initiatives," attached to Foreign Minister's speech to Ottawa treaty signing conference, 3 December 1997; Letter of the Minister of Defense to Novib, the Hague, 5 December 1997, nr. D97003224, p. 3.

924. Handelingen Tweede Kamer (Acts of Parliament, Lower House), The Hague, 12 November 1998, Twenty-fourth Session, p. 1573; Handelingen Eerste Kamer (Acts of Parliament, Senate), The Hague, 2 February 1999, Eighteenth Session, p. 641; Handelingen Tweede Kamer (Acts of Parliament, Lower House), The Hague, 10 February 1999, Fiftieth Session, p. 3338.

925. Handelingen Tweede Kamer (Acts of Parliament, Lower House), The Hague, 30 November 1994, Twenty-ninth Session, pp. 133-135.

926. Verslag van een Algemeen Overleg (report of a general meeting of the Foreign Affairs Parliamentary Committee with the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defense), 13 March 1997, 25 000 V, nr. 72, p. 7.

927. Ibid, pp. 7-8; telephone conversation with Mr. E. Buskens of the information desk of the Ministry of Defense on 26 February 1999. At the treaty signing conference, the Netherlands indicated it would be retaining about 1,500 AP mines for training in mine clearance. Statement of Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs van Mierio, Ottawa, 3 December 1997.

928. Handelingen Tweede Kamer (Acts of Parliament, Lower House), 10 February 1999, Fiftieth Session, p. 3340.

929. Telephone conversation with Mr. P.M. Kraan, Humanitarian Aid Department (DCH/HH) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 26 January 1999.

930. Verslag van een Algemeen Overleg (report of a general meeting of the Foreign Affairs Parliamentary Committee with the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defence), 13 March 1997, 25 000 V, nr. 72, pp. 7-8; telephone conversation with a representative of the Ministry of Defense in January 1999; Handelingen Tweede Kamer (Acts of Parliament, Lower House), The Hague, 10 February 1999, Fiftieth Session, p. 3339.

931. Handelingen Tweede Kamer (Acts of Parliament, Lower House), The Hague, 12 November 1998, Twenty-fourth Session, pp. 1574-75; Twenty-fifth Session, p. 1594; Handelingen Eerste Kamer (Acts of Parliament, Senate), The Hague, 2 February 1999, Eighteenth Session, p. 642; Handelingen Tweede Kamer (Acts of Parliament, Lower House), The Hague, 10 February 1999, Fiftieth Session, p. 3340.

932. Statement at Budapest Conference by Mr. Kazimierz Tomaszewski, Senior Counselor to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Poland, 26-28 March 1998.

933. Ibid.

934. Statement by Bulgarian Ambassador Petko Draganov to the Conference on Disarmament, undated but February 1999; see also Tomaszewski statement, Budapest Conference Report, p. 22

935. U.S. Department of Defense, "Mine Facts" CD ROM.

936. United Nations General Assembly, "Report of the Secretary-General: Moratorium on the export of antipersonnel landmines," A/50/701, 3 November 1995, p. 15.

937. Ibid, p. 7. See also, statement of Mr. Tomaszewski to the Budapest Conference; Country Profiles, United Nations Demining Database, http:www.un.org.Depts/Landmine/index.html (Ref. 3/8/99).

938. Statement of Mr. Tomaszewki to Budapest Conference, 26-28 March 1998; Country Profiles, United Nations Demining Database.

939. United States Department of State, Hidden Killers, July 1993, p. 143.

940. United States Department of State, Hidden Killers, September 1998, pp. C-3, C-6.

941. Delegation of Romania, Statement to the Ottawa Signing Conference, 3 December 1997.

942. Statement at Budapest Conference by Mr. Anca Visan, Deputy Head of NATO-WEU Department of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Romania, in International Campaign to Ban Landmines, "Report: Regional Conference on Landmines, Budapest, Hungary, 26-28 March 1998," p. 22.

943. Statement at Budapest Conference by Mr. Anca Visan; see also, Country Profiles, United Nations Demining Database, http:www.un.org.Depts/Landmine/index.html

944. Statement by Ambassador Petko Draganov, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Bulgaria to the United Nations Office and the other International Organisations in Geneva, (undated) February 1999.

945. U.S. Department of Defense, "Mine Facts" CD ROM.

946. Human Rights Watch Arms Project and Physicians for Human Rights, Landmines: A Deadly Legacy (New York: Human Rights Watch, October 1993), p. 104.

947. United Nations General Assembly, "Report of the Secretary-General: Moratorium on the export of antipersonnel landmines," A/50/701, 3 November 1995, p. 7; Statement at Budapest Conference by Mr. Anca Visan, 26-28 March 1998.

948. The Mines Advisory Group has estimated that it could be several million, based on discussions with Romanian officials. See MAG Stockpile Fact Sheet, September 1998.

949. Statement at Budapest Conference by Mr. Anca Visan, 26-28 March 1998.

950. United States Department of State, Hidden Killers, July 1993, p. 146.

951. United States Department of State, Hidden Killers, September 1998, p. C-3.

952. Press Release, Ukrainian Ambassador to Canada Mr. Volodymy D. Khandogiy, 24 February 1999.

953. Mykhailo Osnach, Representative of Ukraine at the Budapest Conference, 26-28 March, 1998.

954. Statement by Bulgarian Ambassador Petko Draganov to the Conference on Disarmament, undated but February 1999.

955. Statement of Amb. Volodymyr Furkalo at the Global Ban on Landmines Treaty Signing Conference, Ottawa, 4 December 1997.

956. Mykhailo Osnach, Representative of Ukraine at the Budapest Conference, 26-28 March, 1998.

957. U.S. Department of State, Outgoing Telegram, Unclassified, Subject: landmine export moratorium demarche, 7 December 1993.

958. Ibid.

959. United Nations, Country Report: Ukraine, at http://www.un.org/Depts/Landmine/country/ukraine.htm.

960. Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade's Mine Action Database.

961. Military Parade magazine.

962. Statement by H.E. Volodymyr Furkalo, Ambassador of Ukraine to Canada, Head of Ukrainian Delegation, at the Global Ban on Landmines Treaty Signing Conference and Mine Action Forum, Ottawa, 4 December 1997.

963. General Volodymyr Vorobiov, Head of the Corps of Engineers, 28 April 1998.

964. United Nations, Country Report: Ukraine, at http://www.un.org/Depts/Landmine/country/ukraine.htm.

965. Ukrainian Peacekeepers Veterans Association, Annual Report 1998.

966. Report of General Volodymyr Vorobiov, Head of the Corps of Engineers, 28 April 1998.

967. Ibid.

968. Landmine Monitor interviews with Ministry of Defense officials.

969. SPDT Bombs Disposal Division report, 19 February 1999 (Dnepropetrovsk).

970. United Nations, Country Report: Ukraine, at http://www.un.org/Depts/Landmine/country/ukraine.htm.

971. Chief of Staff General I.E. Yazovskih, Annual Report about Results of Demining of the Ukrainian Territory for 1998.

972. SPDT Bombs Disposal Division report, 19 February 1999 (Dnepropetrovsk).

973. Colonel Valery Ablasov, Deputy Head of State Committee for Veterans Affairs, Soviet Staff and Arms Technics Losses in Afghanistan (1979-1989), 15 December 1998.

974. U.S. Department of State, Hidden Killers, September 1998, p. A1.

975. Felix Corley, "Landmine Use Now Set to Continue," Jane's Intelligence Review - Pointer, Vol. 5, No. 1, 1 January 1998, p. 2.

976. U.S. Department of State, Hidden Killers, July 1993, p. 48.

977. Statement by the Armenian Delegation at the Treaty Signing Conference and Mine Action Forum, Ottawa, 4 December 1997.

978. Felix Corley, "Landmine Use Now Set to Continue," Jane's Intelligence Review - Pointer, Vol. 5, No. 1, 1 January 1998, p. 2. See also: "Armenia Reluctant to Ban Landmines," RFE/RL Newsline, 18 November 1997.

979. Ibid.

980. U.S. Department of State, Hidden Killers, July 1993, p. 48.

981. U.S. Department of State, Hidden Killers, December 1994, p. 24..

982. Portfolio Synopsis: Patrick J. Leahy War Victims Fund, United States Agency for International Development, October 1997.

983. Telephone interview with Allen Randlov, former Director of the War Victims Fund, 15 March 1999.

984. United Nations Mine Action Service, Joint Assessment Mission Report: Azerbaijan, 5 November 1998, p. 13.

985. UNMAS, Joint Assessment Mission Report: Azerbaijan, p. 14.

986. Azadliq (Independent), (Baku), February 25, 1999 (in Azeri).

987. UNMAS, Joint Assessment Mission Report: Azerbaijan, p. 13.

988. UNMAS, Joint Assessment Mission Report: Azerbaijan, p. 14.

989. Ibid., p. 8.

990. ACBL (Arif Yunusov and Khafiz Safikhanov) interviews with Azeri soldiers in Nagorny-Karabakh, November 1998 - January 1999. See also, UNMAS, p. 8.

991. Sodrujesctvo (Friendship), (Baku), No. 1,3, 1995 (in Russian).

992. United Nations, Country Report: Azerbaijan. At: http://www.un.org/Depts/Landmine/country/azerbaij.htm. See also U.S. Department of State, Hidden Killers: The Global Landmine Crisis, 1998, p. A-1.

993. See UNMAS, Joint Assessment Mission Report: Azerbaijan.

994. UNMAS, Joint Assessment Mission Report: Azerbaijan, p. 9.

995. ACBL study. A list of the villages, and additional information, is available.

996. ACBL interview with Mr. M. Namazaliyev, Chief of the Executive Authority, Fizuli district.

997. ACBL study.

998. Yeni Musavat (New Musavat), (Baku), 13-19 August 1998 (in Azeri).

999. UNMASG Mine Action Bilateral Donor Support Fact Sheet, 16 November 1998.